Something Old Something New 2013 - Day 1 - Travel Day 27/6/13

[Ariel's Mum]

LINK TO PRE-TRAVEL DAY

The alarm was set for 4.45am but Philip and I woke a bit before this. I was really excited and couldn’t keep the smile off my face. Philip was laid back as always . We woke the teens who were great at getting up but also very grumpy getting ready. This is where having the two rooms paid off. Although I could hear them griping and grizzling they weren’t right on top of me. It was nice to have the distance and freedom to keep the happy thoughts playing in my head.

Once dressed we did a final check of the rooms and headed to check out. After handing the keycards to the receptionist we were on our way for the two minute walk to the terminal building. It was a lovely sunny day which made a nice change. Inside the terminal it was really busy. We had expected it to be busy but were quite surprised by just how busy it was as it had been much quieter two years previously. We joined the long queue waiting at the BA bag drop desk. Luke grumbled a bit as he hates queues. Rachel stood in a trance playing on her phone. The queue moved quite slowly and I was a bit anxious. Once at the desk I asked the rep if the Tampa flight was still delayed. She said it was showing as on time on her computer so called to ask a colleague. My heart lifted as I thought maybe time had been made up but no the colleague told her that it was delayed. Ho hum. All the longer to wait in Gatwick – Thank Goodness we had booked a lounge!

We said Goodbye to our bags as they made their way around on the conveyer belt and hoped they would all reach us safely in Tampa. Two years previously one of our bags suffered a 24 hour delay. BA had handled it brilliantly though.

Anyway bags dropped we walked up the escalators and though into security. Again this was really busy. When choosing which queue to join I choose the one which had mainly business men in suits. I explained to Luke that they were frequent travellers who’d be used to the security strip tease. How wrong was I! The man in front of us had nothing prepared. Luke and I had laptops, kindle, ipad etc in our hands whilst this man was fumbling to open his bag. So much for me thinking he’d be organized.

We passed through security without any of us being searched. I think that’s a first for us. We walked straight to Boots to get Rachel travel sickness tablets. Once out of there we were faced with another long queue to pass the official to the departure gates. I have never seen the queue that long and I used to travel regularly on business. Our flight was showing as last call at this point so I really was anxious now.

We showed our boarding passes to the official and power walked to the departure gate. Of course with being BA it was the furthest away gate. My heart was racing and I kept expecting hear a last call for passengers Kerrigan announcement. Thankfully that didn’t happen. We got to the gate and walked straight onto our plane. In fact we weren’t the last passengers there were several others who boarded after us.

Our seats were near the back of the plane. I can’t remember which row but it may have been row 36. As always, I sat with the teens and Philip sat across the aisle from us. I was in the aisle seat, Rachel in the middle and Luke had the window seat. Now we were on the plane my smile was even bigger. I know I keep saying this but I just couldn’t believe we were actually going on holiday. Nothing was going to stop us.

Luke normally gets a bit nervous as we speed along the runway and take off. As mum, my job of course is to hold his hand and reassure him. I reached for his hand that morning and gave it a comforting squeeze only for him to tell me he was fine. Eh? When did that happen. Yet another sign that the teens are becoming more independent. Whilst I was really pleased that he was more relaxed on this take off, I was also a little sad not to be needed.

Once airborne, Rachel fell asleep almost instantly and I glanced across the aisle to see Philip sitting with his eyes closed. Luke like me was too excited to sleep.



The cabin crew soon started serving breakfast and at the same time poor Rachel stirred from her sleep to say she felt sick. The smell of airline food almost immediately makes her feel queasy. Thankfully, almost as soon as she had completed the sentence she went straight back to sleep. This was a blessing as it meant Luke and I could sample the delights of the BA breakfast. We both remembered enjoying the breakfast on our previous trip and hoped that this years would be as nice. It was a mini feast with a slice of bacon, small sausage, tomato, scrambled egg and a couple of mushrooms and it was really nice.



Seriously. I know lots of people complain about airline food but the BA breakfast on the domestic flights is actually quite pleasant. Try it – you might be surprised.

The flight passed quite quickly and soon we had landed at Gatwick. Knowing we had a long wait for the second flight we were in no rush to be first off the plane. Just as well really given we were in almost the back row. Once we had disembarked we followed the signs for flight connections and joined the queue to go back through security. Another round of the “strip-tease” game followed. This time Philip was searched. I knew there was no way we could have got through twice without one of use being stopped.

Once through security we headed straight for the No 1 lounge. We used this lounge in 2011 and had decided to book it again this year. I paid £76.50 for the 4 of us – the teens are classed adults. We really like it in here. It’s a nice place to spend a few hours before your flight.

We set up base on two couches opposite a large coffee table. Rachel and Philip hadn’t had anything to eat so we decided to order some hot food – though after our airline breakfast I wasn’t particularly hungry. Luke is a bottomless pit so of course he was more than ready to eat again. Philip had the eggs benedict, Luke and I ordered bacon rolls, Rachel just ate the croissant from the cold breakfast buffet. We also had orange juice and coffee. Once we had finished Philip and I decided to browse in duty free. I was looking for Clinique products, Lancaster Tan Maximiser (which is a must on my holiday shopping list) and a new perfume. Philip had decided to buy an aftershave if he saw one.

The teens were quite happy to stay lounged on the couches with their i-phones.







It’s the first time Philip and I have left them and had time to browse in duty free on our own. Normally we split boys and girls. So this was quite nice. We had a leisurely look around, I bought my tan maximiser, a Clairns sun moisturizer and a bottle of Issey Miyake L’eau D’Issey Florale, which I hadn’t smelled before but I now love. It’s a nice light summer fragrance. Sadly the Clinique products I wanted weren’t in stock and Philip didn’t see an after shave he fancied.

We then went back to the lounge and Philip poured us both a Pimms from the jug they had lying by the bar. I had been going to splurge on a glass of champagne but the Pimms was really nice so just stuck with that.





I posted that picture on facebook and Rachel commented “It’s way too early” along with this picture:





It seriously made me laugh out loud especially as she hadn’t cracked a light that she was posting and only reacted when I was laughing. She has such a great sense of humour.

The time passed slowly but pleasantly. Philip and I had 3 or 4 glasses of Pimms each and the kids had several soft drinks. Rachel and I also took a wander back out to the shops to get some magazines and sweets for the flight.

Earlier on I asked about how long we were allowed in the lounge as our flight had been delayed. The receptionist told me we could have 3 hours but had to pay for anything more than that. Unfortunately I hadn’t taken a note of when we entered so I was unsure exactly when our 3 hours was up but I decided we shouldn’t stay beyond 12, our flight was showing as “go to gate at 12.30pm” so leaving around 12 worked well for us. In fact by the time we had all taken a last visit to the toilet we eventually left the lounge at 12.15. I think we had probably been there for just over 3 hours but no one seemed to notice.

We visited Boots to buy some water and get the teens sandwiches. At least that way I know there’s a chance of Rachel eating something on the flight. By the time we came out of Boots, our departure gate was listed so we walked straight there. We were one of the first few families there – which was unusual for us.



Just as we sat down, the teens both decided they needed another toilet break. Philip walked them back to the security team who held on to their boarding passes and passports but let them out.

Pre-boarding had just begun as they returned. When we were called we boarded quite quickly. We were all happy with our seats. So far so good. Once again at take off I reached across the aisle to give Luke’s had a comforting squeeze. Once again he told me he was fine. I really need to get used to this.

As Philip and I were in the exit row, we had a crew member sitting opposite us in the bucket seat. He was really nice and very chatty. Kept us entertained for a few hours with his tales of his various travels to the Maldives, Antiqua, Orlando, Tampa etc.

After the seatbelt signs went off, the crew came round with drinks. Philip had a soft drink and I had some wine and a glass of water. Luke took a coke and Rachel refused a drink. She was really annoyed at me when I ask the crew member to give her a drink. I just didn’t want her dehydrated but she wasn’t a happy bunny. She did drink it though.

The food choice was sausage and mash or butter chicken. Philip and the sausages, Luke and I the chicken. Rachel simply didn’t eat. The food was ok. Quite passable for airline meals. With my dinner I had a lovely wee bottle of Cordonui sparkling wine. Such a treat.





After we had eaten, the teens and Philip watched movies. I closed my eyes and promptly fell asleep for a couple of hours. It wasn’t a proper sleep and I did wake myself several times with my head bobbing forward. Have to say I also worried that my mouth might have fallen over and I might have drooled everywhere. Not a good look. Once I woke up Philip said I became very annoying. That would be because I wanted to talk a couple of times. My darling husband really hates that I like to chat when travelling. As a once regular business traveller he likes to totally zone out – earphones firmly in place he ignores everything around him and everyone. Whilst he ignored me, I read my kindle.

It was really good being able to stretch our legs in the exit row seats but they were also annoying as people stood right in front of you to queue for the toilet. In most cases it was fine but sometimes I felt people got a little too close for comfort. I was quite tempted to kick the ankles of one man who had his backside almost in my face!

Before landing we were served afternoon tea of Chicken Caesar sandwiches which Luke declared were scrumptious. We asked Rachel to take the afternoon tea so Luke could eat hers. She had the sandwiches we had brought from Boots.

Once the plane landed we were off fairly quickly and joined the line for Immigration. In all honesty the queue wasn’t too bad. We probably queued for about 20-30 minutes. So actually quite good compared to some stories I have read. Whilst in the queue Luke told me he wanted a man immigration officer as the women all looked really strict. Luckily his wish was granted. This was the first year he and Rachel have had to be finger printed. I think they both enjoyed the experience.

We collected our cases – yay all 4 of them made it through with us this year - and took them up the escalator onto the monorail. This was the first time we had done this as we normally opt to do the double bag drop. It was much easier and quicker and allowed us to quickly get to the car rental desk. We were talked into an upgrade to a Volvo XC360. It was an additional £220 so just £10 per day. In all honesty we were glad we upgraded as it was a really nice comfortable car.

As the flight had been delayed we had landed much later than expected. The traffic into Orlando from Tampa was also quite slow – so the journey there took a bit longer than normal. Our initial plan had been take out pizzas, a trip to Publix and an hour in the Pool. We quickly revised this to a quick stop at a 7-11 and take out McDonalds from Championsgate. By now we were all a little frazzled and grumpy with each other. Luke was complaining that he didn’t know what to order until I told him all McDonalds have the same standard menu with a few extras. D’oh.

As Philip was the driver he placed the order. Oh my goodness – his accent. He sounded sooo Scottish. The server struggled to understand him. The teens were in fits of laughter at him. When we drove round to the window to pay I started giggling too. At that point Philip cracked a joke that he decided against ordering the Mexican special as they had struggled so much with the rest of the order.

The drive from Championsgate to Sanctuary at Westhaven takes only a few minutes. So it didn’t take us long to get to the villa after we had ordered dinner. We’ve stayed in Sanctuary before and as we drove through the gates it felt that we were coming home. Great feeling and once again I had a huge grin on my face.

We found the villa and walked through the doors. It was lovely. It’s a Dibb villa and the pictures on the website really don’t do it justice. We immediately felt at home. Everything was immaculate and the beds looked seriously inviting. After quickly unloading the car, we sat at the table for our tea. Once they had eaten the teens went straight to bed. Philip and I sat and had a beer – Bud Light Lime of course – and said to each other how happy we were to be back in Florida again. We went to bed around 10pm. Tired but very, very happy.

We had arrived – tomorrow the fun begins…..

OUR FAVOURITE SOMETHING NEW TODAY: In all honesty this is a toughie as this is our normal route to our holiday. I guess the villa as we had never stayed here before and it was lovely.

OUR FAVOURITE SOMETHING OLD: The No 1 Lounge. A great way to spend the time before your flight departs.

Day 2 Here - Hollywood Studios

[letty]

Fab reading, Im the mum of 2 boys 12 and 14 so understand the teen thing of growing independence.
Also am a lover of Bud light lime... sounds like the perfect end to a travel day

[laalaa]

Sounds great! The plane food looks quite good I think!

Look forward to reading the next instalment x

[WileyCoyote]

What a great travel day, despite the delays - you all sounded very chilled in the lounge and well done Rachel for not being sick on the plane - have to laugh, usually its my Ds squeezing my hand as we take off as I am the bad traveller , little things eh.
Loved Westhaven so very much looking forward to reading all about your stay there
Let the holiday (proper) commence ...

[Jedi Princess]

Great read. 😃

[Dan's Mum]

Fab travel day.

Dee
xx

[amy1511]

Yay I love a new trippe :-)

[madhatter3]

great travel day, as a mum of 3, (2 pre teens) I can sympathise with you.

[mrsstitch]

A great start - a very smooth travel day despite the delay. Looking forward to seeing pics of the villa - it sounds superb! Will also be very interested to read about your part of the trip in Rotunda - somewhere we are considering for next year, but an area we know nothing about. We weren't sure if it would be too quiet? too far away from beaches? or whether clearwater would be better? I'll be really interested to see what you think of it!
Cant wait to read more!

[happy08]

Great travel day