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Old 22 May 17, 04:50 PM  
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The Adventures of Mummy and Pickle - Pre Travel Day and Travel Day

Pre-Travel Day and Travel Day

(sorry as this is longer than I thought it would be!)

I had been up every night late packing so was shattered the day before we flew.

Harrison went to nursery (excited but not really appreciating what was to come I don’t think) and I went to work. I left work about 3.30. My plan was to leave earlier but as usual these things never go to plan. I got to Harrison’s nursery at absolutely the wrong time, when they were having his tea, and my arrival completely disrupted all the other children (ooops!). Anyway, we eventually got out of there and hit the road to Gatwick.

I had lots of ‘Mummy I think you are going the wrong way’ and ‘are we nearly there yet’ from Harrison, although he fell to sleep after about 30 minutes.

The traffic was not brilliant on M25. We were travelling from Hertfordshire and the Heathrow section is always bad.
I decided to stop at the services to get some room snacks as I knew by the time we got there I wouldn’t be able to face going to the restaurant. After we’d use their facilities, stocked up with goodies and Harrison had told everyone in M&S that we were going on holiday we hit the road again. After this we had a smooth journey.

I easily found the valet parking at the North Terminal and handed over my car keys.

The guy photographing and checking the car was brilliant with Harrison while I tackled the cases and gave him some spare paperwork to hold which made him feel very important.

Then came the fun part ….trying to transport 3 cases, 3 smaller bags, a 4 year old and his beloved Mickey Mouse (who comes everywhere) to the Premier Inn. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and in hindsight I should have not taken as much with us and should have embraced the luggage trolley earlier! Anyway, I live and learn and someone we managed to get to the hotel. It also chucked it down with rain mid walk (which would only take 5 mins without luggage but it seemed to take us forever!), so we also got soaked.

In my highs and lows I mention ‘people’ as both a high and a low and at this point on the journey it was definitely a low. I never cease to be amazed at just how either lacking in common sense, or just plain rude and selfish some people can be. Yes, group of annoying professional people standing right in the doorway of the hotel, and even more rude and annoying man that barged in front of us to get in their first – I’m talking to you!

Anyway, we eventually make it up to the check in area. I had pre-booked and pre-paid for wifi and had an amusing exchange with the lady who was supervising the self service check in machine, who couldn’t understand that I had pre-paid for wifi and didn’t understand the process (the code prints out from the machine). Anyway, she was very nice and gave Harrison a colouring set which he was very impressed with.

I then had a slightly annoying encounter with the lady supervising the lifts. This happened several times during the trip and I might be over-sensitive to it (which I am aware of). She saw me struggling with the bags and said ‘oh is your partner parking the car’. She was a bit taken a back when I said it was just us! This happened several times on the trip and just for the record I’m absolutely fine being on my own, but what does upset me is when people say things to Harrison like ‘is your Daddy coming’. He’s very quick to say ‘I don’t have a Daddy’, but it does upset me and I’m sure it must upset him.
Anyway, I digress! We made it to the room, dumped our bags and rushed to the window to check out the view. We can see planes (and a carpark). Harrison then has to thoroughly check out the room (in particular the bath), while I dig into the M&S treats and pour a glass of wine 

After ringing my Mum to let her know we have arrived safely I turn to attempting to get Harrison to bed! I think it must have been around 7.30 at this point and his normal bedtime is between 6.30 and 7pm.



He is actually pretty tired so I have much less trouble than expected.
I was planning on having a soak in the bath but in the end I decided to watch something on my ipad (can’t remember what now) and get some sleep.


I’m a big fan of the premier inn beds (they are so comfortable) and I was exhausted so I managed to go off to sleep quickly and had a good night’s sleep.

Travel Day

We both woke up relatively early. Harrison had a bath and I had a shower and washed my hair etc. We then put on our special T-shirts! And started getting very excited!





We were initially on the 11am flight but Virgin changed us to the 1pm flight which actually worked out fine in the end.

Check-in/ bag drop opened at 10am and we started making our way across (it’s literally across the road) at 9.45am. I’d done on-line check-in the day before. It was really quick and easy and I felt so much better to get rid of the suitcases!

I’d paid for an extra bag and I was relieved to see they were all under weight (and my scales were not lying) so I’d have room for some Disney shopping!

We then headed straight to security, which was very busy but OK. I’d actually got fast track security passes (both from V-Room and valet car parking), but I couldn’t see where to go and as it didn’t look too bad, we just did normal. All was fine (and for once I didn’t set off the metal detectors) until they pulled out one of our bags for additional security. They thought they could see a liquid in there but there wasn’t anything. The security guy was very nice and I fully respect the job they do so I was fine with this.

We then had a quick browse around the shops and I got some perfume and some water, snacks etc from Boots for the flight before we headed to the V-Room.

I really wasn’t sure whether or not to book this. Firstly I love the hustle and bustle of the airport and so being tucked away doesn’t appeal to me and I also knew I wouldn’t fancy eating anything much. However I got offered a good deal a few days before we went, and I though Harrison would appreciate the soft play and therefore went for it.

It turned out to be a good call. He loved it and it kept him busy until our gate was called. I got some fruit and a pain du chocolat (plus a glass or Prosecco) and chilled while watching him.

We then walked to our gate and boarded the plane as soon as we got there. I’d pre-booked our seats at 11 months out and I was pleased I did. We had the first 2 seats (where it goes from 3 to 2) at the back of the plane. It actually worked out even better than I thought as Harrison had room to stand and stretch his legs next to his seat and look out the window.



Just as we were waiting to push back Harrison fell asleep! Now I had a dilemma! Do I let him sleep through his first ever flight, or do I wake him up (possibly making him grumpy)? Luckily he woke up himself as we were pushing back which saved me from making the decision!

The flight itself was good. The food was pretty good (Harrison didn’t eat his meal as he is fussy), and the crew were very nice. It did seem to last forever though! I can’t watch the TV screens on a plane. I completely admire anyone that can watch a film on them! We both had the map on ours the whole time. Harrison slept a bit and watched stuff on his ipad for a bit. I’d bought a stack of little toys to keep him busy throughout the flight and snacks etc. We also made lots of trips to the toilet and I had to answer ‘are we nearly there yet’ about a million times! 

I love flying but hate landing. I was determined not to show Harrison I was worried however and was also filming it which kept my mind busy. However the plane slammed down so hard on the runway the camera went flying. Ellie Steadman (from youtube) was also on our flight and if you watch her moving vlog she says the same thing, which made me laugh when I got back).

Immigration wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it might be and we were through fairly quickly. Harrison then amazed me, as he was absolutely brilliant at spotting our cases on the carousal (way before I did!). They were not even particularly memorable (2 blue and 1 grey). We then headed through customs (me again, wondering why on earth we had bought 3 cases), and made it to the escalator. There was no way on earth by this point that I wasn’t doing 2nd bag drop (even if I had to wait hours at the other end)  We deposited our bags again and headed up the escalator to the monorail.

Harrison was very excited and asking loads of questions which kept everyone amused as he whizzed over to the terminal. He wanted to get in the fountain so after I’d avoided that near disaster (he loves water), we headed to 2nd bag drop and Alamo.

I queued up at the Virgin desk before getting our bags to collect the $200 gift voucher. After waiting she said that as I’d checked in for the car on-line my voucher was waiting for me at the Alamo desk.
We then got to the carousel just as our bags were coming out!
Next step was Alamo. This was very easy . I’d booked an intermediate SUV but they didn’t have any so I had a massive choice from the next category up. We ended up picking a Hyundi Sante Fe sport. I wish I could give technical explanation for choosing it, however we both liked the colour (a burnt orange).

After depositing our bags in it, we went to get the car seat. I couldn’t figure out how on earth to install it so went to ask for help. The lady was brilliant. She said that she couldn’t install it herself but could talk me through it, however ended up doing it for me. I was very appreciative.

We got strapped in and Harrison thought it was great. I was slightly terrified about driving but off we went! I got a satnav on the way out and quickly programmed it to Animal Kingdom Lodge. I’d also watched several youtube videos of the drive so felt relatively prepared. Although I drive a manual, I have driven an automatic several times previously so that part didn’t worry me.

Harrison is a natural chatterbox and I was a bit concerned that he’d talk and distract me when trying to find our way, but actually he was fantastic and was quiet when I said I needed to concentrate for a minute. In fact he told me off for screaming when we went under the Walt Disney World sign which made me laugh. It didn’t take that long at all to arrive at the hotel and we parked and made our way to check in.



The lobby blew me away. What a stunning hotel. I loved it. The staff at check in were great and gave Harrison a load of stickers so he was happy. Some lovely people helped me with my bags to my room as I was struggling by this point.

Our room was gorgeous and requested a room through touring plans and although I didn’t get what I wanted our room was actually perfect and we had a partial savannah view. We were on the 3rd floor (so lobby level) which actually was quite handy and not far at all to walk.




I’d ordered a stroller from Kingdom Strollers and some room snacks (and wine) from Garden Grocer and I rang down for them to be delivered. Very impressive service from all! I thought the stroller was fantastic. Super easy to fold and push and really comfortable for Harrison. He lived in it for the whole holiday so it was definitely worth it. I’d definitely recommend them.



After unpacking and jumping about the room with excitement we both decided we were hungry so we went in search for food. Harrison was amazing me as by this point it was about 8.30pm Florida time which was about 8 hour past his normal bed time and he was doing great. We headed down to the Mara and had a look at the pool on the way past.

We had the dining plan, so picked up our resort mugs and shared a plate of chicken nuggets and fries. There was more than enough for both of us! Harrison wanted to sit outside, which we did and it was lovely. The perfect start to our holiday.

After this it was off to bed to get some sleep before heading to the Magic Kingdom in the morning.
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Old 22 May 17, 06:55 PM  
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What an amazing travel day I have to say I completely admire you going just the 2 of you, I'd not be brave enough! Can't wait to read more x
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Old 22 May 17, 07:02 PM  
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Old 22 May 17, 08:41 PM  
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Great start to your holiday 😀
Fab idea to watch a YouTube video if your drive from the airport. I'm going to have a look to see if there are any showing the journey from Sanford.
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Old 22 May 17, 09:05 PM  
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What a great travel day, Harrison did so well. Well done on managing all that luggage! Looking forward to reading along x
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Old 22 May 17, 09:16 PM  
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That was brilliant ! Such a smooth travel day 😀
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Old 22 May 17, 09:46 PM  
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Originally Posted by vixabelle View Post
What an amazing travel day I have to say I completely admire you going just the 2 of you, I'd not be brave enough! Can't wait to read more x
Thank you! It was honestly amazing
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Old 22 May 17, 09:46 PM  
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Originally Posted by jemima2 View Post
That was brilliant ! Such a smooth travel day 😀
I know! We were very lucky
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Old 22 May 17, 09:48 PM  
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Originally Posted by EJSakaAnna View Post
What a great travel day, Harrison did so well. Well done on managing all that luggage! Looking forward to reading along x
Haha thank you. I really struggled coming home as it was heavier then and not so well packed. Next time I WILL travel light! 😂
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Old 22 May 17, 09:51 PM  
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Originally Posted by GALE88 View Post
Great start to your holiday 😀
Fab idea to watch a YouTube video if your drive from the airport. I'm going to have a look to see if there are any showing the journey from Sanford.
It was really helpful. Thank you
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