Four Moretons Go West EASTER 2018 - Travel Day

[LLKJDisney]

Travel Day – 24th March 2018


We were all up at 6am, the boys got their fix of Fortnite before they got dressed. We had some vouchers for Subway, so I nipped around the corner and grabbed some breakfast subs, before Lee’s dad arrived to take us to Heathrow. The subs were nice but the boys said they preferred a MacDonald’s breakfast (1st world problems).

We left our house in Coventry just before 9am. It was a Saturday so we hoped traffic would not be too bad. Thankfully it was a very easy drive and we were unloading our cases at 10.45am.

We used the self-service kiosks to check in, we decided to head straight through security so we could get settled before the flight. Jacob and Lucas were both body searched as they set off the scanners. Jacob had a travel band on for sickness which caused the alarm and Lucas hadn’t removed his jacket. The boys loved it, me not so much.

We sat over by the kids play area which is very small but Lucas was still ok to go in and play. The boys had their first character photo of the holiday.

We spent time watching planes and getting excited for our adventure!

The gate opened and we began the long(ish) walk down to gate B47, we got to the gate at 2.15pm and waited 10 minutes before we were allowed to board. We were flying with Air New Zealand who we flew with last time. They were superb last time and we hoped we would have a similar experience on this trip. We spent a little bit of time on the runaway and eventually took off at 3.55pm, it had already been a long day and we still had the 10-hour flight to go!

The entertainment on Air NZ is excellent and there is plenty for everyone to choose from. Unfortunately, the kid’s meals that I ordered when booking did not arrive and they didn’t have any spare. It was not a major problem, Jacob did not want to eat and Lucas just had an adult chicken curry, although he did say it was too spicy for him. Lee and I both had the beef casserole which was nice. The best bit was the pudding, it was salted caramel ice cream pots. For the rest of the flight we watched films and tried to relax.

The only person to get any sleep was Lucas, he managed to get around 4 hours which was good. Jacob did for a sleep for a little while but he woke up feeling quite sick and spent the last 3 hours of the flight in and out the toilet. The staff were excellent with him, he does get travel sick and he was wearing a travel band but unfortunately it hadn’t worked

We landed at 8pm (LA time) which was 4am our time, we had been up just short of 24 hours. There was no way I was driving after this journey. So in advance and aware of how we would be feeling, we had booked the Travelodge near the airport and the plan was to sleep as long as possible and then get up and go to the car hire place. We were through immigration relatively quickly as we were able to use the fast track machines, as we had visited the US in the last 2 years. LAX was super busy and there were people everywhere. We went outside to find the stop for the shuttlebus, it was crazy all you could hear was horns being honked and there were cars everywhere!

The bus arrived within 10 minutes and we were in our hotel room by 9.30pm which wasn’t too bad. I was super organised and had packed an overnight bag so we didn’t have to unpack cases. It was lights out by 10pm.

As expected, it had been a loooong travel day, but we were prepared for this. Jacob’s sickness was not part of the plan but I was sure it was travel sickness and he would be fine after some sleep. Apart from the kid’s meal mix up, Air NZ were excellent again and if flying to LAX I would highly recommend them, although I do believe they are to stop this leg of their flights from October this year.

[Tinkermom]

We’ve flown with Air NZ a few times they’ve always been fantastic.

Great start 😊

[smithlane]

A great travel day Kerry apart from Jacob's sickness. We had that one year with Sam, he was up and down to the toilet like a yoyo!
You all did so well staying up as late as you did

[Pussycat Doll]

That’s pretty good as travel days go Kerry. Xx