The One Where The Kids Are No Longer Kids. Day 15 and16 15-16/09/2016 No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dreams that you wish will come true...

[Chloeoeysmum]

Apologies in advance as this is a bit of an epic day. (Or two)

Alarm went off at 6am, showered and finished packing the last bits and pieces, we had brought an empty cabin sized suitcase with us so we had enough space for last minute shopping. We booked an uber to take us to DS for check in and bag drop, we were the first ones there at 8:15am so that was painless.

Feeling lazy we took another uber back to the hotel to pick up our hand luggage as our checkout time was 11am, we checked out of 2 rooms and extended the check out in the last room to 3pm, so dumped our hand luggage and bits and pieces into one room and toddled off to Disney springs.

Our transfer back to the airport was due to pick us up at 5:30pm, we had decided early on in the holiday not to go back to a park today and we would pick up souvenirs and gifts to take home. Walked to DS and had breakfast at Wolfgang Puck Express. This consisted of waffles, breakfast pizza and the cornflake French toast, I was expecting great things with the French toast but they use bagels which went a bit crunchy and what with the crunchy cornflakes it was a bit of an attack on my gums!

We then took the boat for a gentle ride to POR, via POFQ (this is where we are considering staying in 2019) we wandered around the resort, then took the boat back to DS west side, grabbed some well earned frappuccinos and walked around DS, hubby purchased a Star wars t-shirt, that has a logo saying "The force is strong in my family" good choice!

Next up was world of Disney and co-op purchases, Mickey mouse t-shirts, gifts for nieces and sisters in law, some awesome mugs (I love these!), wooden spoons, tea towels, Mickey Mouse coffee and the new fridge magnet family, all really important stuff...oh and Christmas Mickey baulbauls and a red bamboo fruit bowel with a picture of Mickey Mouse inside it.

I was determined to try out the chips from Poutine, ermmmm, they where just slightly soggy chips with a bolognaise type sauce and mozzarella, nothing special.

Next stop was Ice cream at Ghiradellis - why oh why hadn't we had one sooner, this was special! Earlier in the week we had cinnamon pretzels from wetzels pretzels, now these were also delicious but I just couldn't manage to fit another portion in!

I then had a text from Virgin to say that our flight would be delayed by one hour, so would now be departing at 20.35. We assumed that our transfer would still be arriving at the same time.

Last chances for photo opportunities taken.

Didn't buy this though...

We grabbed some sugar laden goodies from Goofys and walked back to the hotel to pack our purchases into the hand luggage.

All packed with almost two hours to spare so we sat around the pool area reminiscing, we took some magic band photos before taking them off and finished the last bottle of proper Mountain Dew when DD1's BF was informed that our transfer had arrived almost two hours early! We decided that the hassle of sending them away to return later wasnt worth it so without time to dwell on our sadness of leaving we jumped into the cars and set off. It was a good thing that we hadn't gone to a park today!

Florida was sad to see us go as the sky turned a very dark shade of grey and the thunder and lightening started, we also saw an alligator along the side of the highway...

We arrived at the airport with loads of time to spare so we sat outside for a while watching the impressive storms all around us.

We decided we had to officially say goodbye so went off to departures, we had some dollars to 'waste' so bought water and snacks for the flight and to take home.
We got ready for boarding only to be told there were further delays due to loss of power - *gulp* I was reassured by hubby who is an aircraft mechanic that its nothing to worry about, the aircraft hooks up to a generator for its power before its engines start, so it was the generator that kept tripping. It looked a bit more positive when the cabin crew boarded but when they got off again an hour later it wasn't so positive!

By now it was around 10pm and we were finally allowed to board the aircraft, but the lights kept going on and off, we had no air coming through the vents and the cabin temperature was getting unbearable. Then came the announcement to say that there had been a medical emergency and a passenger and their luggage had to be taken off the aircraft. I hope that they are now ok and back home safely.

By now there were crying hot children and babies and some rather grumpy and loud adults, the cabin temperature by now had reached 36 C and we had been sitting in the heat and dark for almost an hour with no water handed out, one of the cabin crew was wearing an oxygen mask!
Then the announcement was made that due to the unbearable conditions for staff... pause... and passengers, we were to disembark the aircraft. We were all herded into a cordoned off area with no access to loos or water. To access toilets and the water fountain we had to queue, hand over a boarding pass, now picture 500 people doing this, it wasn't fun.

They eventually decided to extend the cordon as it wasn't the best of ideas, I understand that this will be down to the airport and not Virgin but they must have plans in place for these scenarios. Everyone was tired and frustrated, we passed the time people watching.

I was sending frantic emails to the cab company that were due to pick up DD2 and GF from Gatwick to send them new estimated arrival times. I also sent messages to family who may have been wondering why we were late.

At 10 minutes past midnight we were allowed to board again, they had to board the aircraft in stages as the aircon was finally working but parts of the cabin where still too hot to board, luckily we were one of the last on so didn't have to wait too long before actual take off, however, we were still making our way to our seats when the urgent announcement of, 'please sit down and buckle up we have a 5 minute window to leave' came over the loud speaker, we were reversing out of the staging before everyone was sat down and luggage away...
So our original 7.35 departure eventually left at 12:10, we were all rather shattered! The announcement was made to say that the cabin crew had worked beyond their hours so there would be a reduced service...

We landed in Gatwick at 12:35 pm. As we left the aircraft hubby hears our surname being called out. "Yes, that's us"
The Virgin Atlantic lady told us that there had been a problem with our luggage at Disney springs and some cases were either lost or damaged in transit, could we follow her to the baggage collection area where she could help us identify what had happened. It all felt weird but we were all so tired and our brains weren't functioning properly.

We were rushed through passport control and to baggage claim where oddly all our cases looked ok and they were all there, she still insisted that the cases need to be checked, so she and hubby loaded them all onto a trolley and we were rushed through customs. I jokingly said to her, have you got magic codes you're using to get us through this quickly?

I worried about DD2's cab, but we couldn't see anyone at arrivals waiting, the Virgin Atlantic lady said not to worry they would help us arrange transport due to the disruption and led us to a small room where she said we could arrange transport, now at this point I'm starting to think what on earth is going on, has someone planted something in our cases, are we all about to be arrested? Is this all a ploy to get us on our own?

Before we left for our holiday our lovely dad (my father in law) had been quite poorly for some time, he'd been staying with us for a few weeks as he had pulled a muscle in his leg and couldn't get around properly, about a week before we left he'd been admitted to hospital with tummy problems and a urine infection, he'd been up and down health wise but he passed away peacefully in his sleep early morning on the 6th September, the family were waiting for us in the room we had been led to.

We had conversations in the past about what we would ever do if a family member passed away whilst one of us were on holiday and due to the distance and the fact that there was nothing we could do to change things the decision had been made not to tell us, so everything and everyone was on hold until we returned.

Our family had turned up a day early on the 15th as there was confusion about the date we returned, we can't thank Virgin Atlantic and Gatwick airport enough for all they've done, they put the family up overnight in the Hilton and gave them vouchers for food, sorted their parking, they even arranged and paid for the cab to take DD2 and GF home which is 90 minutes away. They were amazing and didn't have to do any of this.

Dad was amazing and the kindest man you could ever meet, he saw the best in everyone and always had a smile on his face, he adored his family and his 6 granddaughters but we lost mum 15 months ago and he was heartbroken, he missed his soulmate.

I have no idea what time we left the airport, we remembered to call the kennels to arrange to pick the dogs up the following day as we wouldn't make it back to Norfolk in time, but I know that we didn't arrive home until after 7pm and we were all in a bit of a daze and everything felt a bit surreal.

Sorry to end on a sad note, I have loved writing this trip report and it also brought back fond memories of going to WDW with mum and dad way back in 2000. Thanks to everyone who read along and thank you for your kind comments. Keep your loved ones close x

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New Photo Added by Chloeoeysmum - 11 Oct 16 12:38 PM.

[Jake71]

Oh Nicole, I'm so sorry for the loss of your lovely dad. Two beautiful photos, he has such a warming smile.


I've loved reading along on all the days of your report it's been absolutely fantastic and your last day of shopping for momentos sounds just my cup of tea. But to come home to such sad news, my heart aches for you.


Well done to the Virgin and Gatwick staff for looking after you and your extended family so well, I'm sure it made a difficult situation just a tiny bit easier to deal with.


Our family have had the same discussions and have also agreed to the same.


Thank you for taking the time to share you holiday with us all.

[Leelsisy]

I'm so sorry to read the sad news at the end of your story. My own dad died in July just after having a couple of strokes. He had the strokes while we were in Nice and I wasn't told the news until we got back. I think it's the best way, as we can't help when we are away, but it comes as such a shock to arrive back to bad news doesn't it! But our families want us to be happy and have fun times, so we must make the most of every day we have. Thank you so much for writing the report, especially in the light of what has happened to you recently. It is one of the best reports I have ever read because you have captured the essence of a magical time. It sounds like Virgin did a great job too. Thank you again x

[Chloeoeysmum]

Originally Posted by Jake71

Oh Nicole, I'm so sorry for the loss of your lovely dad. Two beautiful photos, he has such a warming smile.


I've loved reading along on all the days of your report it's been absolutely fantastic and your last day of shopping for momentos sounds just my cup of tea. But to come home to such sad news, my heart aches for you.


Well done to the Virgin and Gatwick staff for looking after you and your extended family so well, I'm sure it made a difficult situation just a tiny bit easier to deal with.


Our family have had the same discussions and have also agreed to the same.


Thank you for taking the time to share you holiday with us all.

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Thank you for your kind words Jackie, we have recently had the same conversation with our kids, even though they didn't want to have the conversation

[Chloeoeysmum]

Originally Posted by Leelsisy

I'm so sorry to read the sad news at the end of your story. My own dad died in July just after having a couple of strokes. He had the strokes while we were in Nice and I wasn't told the news until we got back. I think it's the best way, as we can't help when we are away, but it comes as such a shock to arrive back to bad news doesn't it! But our families want us to be happy and have fun times, so we must make the most of every day we have. Thank you so much for writing the report, especially in the light of what has happened to you recently. It is one of the best reports I have ever read because you have captured the essence of a magical time. It sounds like Virgin did a great job too. Thank you again x

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Thank you Lynne, I'm sorry to hear you lost your dad, and yes we must make the most of every day we have, mum and dad certainly did. It was certainly magical and dad got to see a lot of the photos we had posted online as the family were keeping him up to date

[Pussycat Doll]

So sorry for your loss but how fantastic of Gatwick and Virgin to look after your family. My elderly infirm father now lives alone with carers going in, ive already said that if the worst should happen while I am away (I'm an only child) I'd like to be told, but I won't be coming home, nothing I can do at that point will help or bring him back. Lovely photos, by the way. Pussycat xx

[Chloeoeysmum]

Originally Posted by Pussycat Doll

So sorry for your loss but how fantastic of Gatwick and Virgin to look after your family. My elderly infirm father now lives alone with carers going in, ive already said that if the worst should happen while I am away (I'm an only child) I'd like to be told, but I won't be coming home, nothing I can do at that point will help or bring him back. Lovely photos, by the way. Pussycat xx

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Thank you, it's so hard to know what to do for the best isn't it? We were 'lucky' as john has two older sisters who held everything together until we returned home. But before we went he told us to go, have a wonderful time, and don't worry about anything. That's exactly what we did do. X

[Loopylooloo]

Nicole, I am so sorry about your dad, he had such a lovely smile xx

[JenD1]

What an emotional and truly sad ending. I've loved reading your trippie every morning with my cuppa. To say the last couple of paragraphs were unexpected is putting it mildly. I'm so sorry Nicole for all of you. Your father in law was clearly a very loved man and I'm sure he knew it. Sending you thoughts and hugs. X