I can't wait any longer! April 2016 - Travel Day

[berniegroves]

Travel Day - 21st April 2016

So after a worrying start last night, we all ended up having a good nights sleep. I woke up at 6.30 but dare not move incase i wake anyone else up, so I read some of Aimee's trip report on my phone.
At about 6.45 Grayson woke up, but Simon gave him his phone and so that entertained him for a little while. Miley work up at around 7am, this is really early for her, but I had been expecting an early wake up so wasn't surprised. Miley also insisted that she woke up in the night and watched the fire engines and planes from the window whilst we were all asleep. Honestly I think she dreamed this, but who knows.

Our flight wasn't scheduled until after lunch, I think it was 1.15pm, so we were in no rush.
We had a really relaxing morning in the room, we were planning on getting a late breakfast/early lunch at the airport so the kids had some cereal bars and raisins that we had brought with us.
We ran the bath and both kids jumped in for a splash around and then Simon and I had showers.

We put all of our gadgets on charge, camera, iphones, kids tablets etc, you name it we charged it. The kids watched a couple of cartoons on the tv and Miley played with her toys.
Once we were all dressed I painted mine and Mileys toenails a bright pink. Miley loves having her toes painted so she got excited. Grayson sensed this excitement and then insisted on also having his toenails done. I thought why not, he's only 2. So for most of the holiday Grayson had pink toes, although you couldn't see them most of the time as he wore crocs.
I packed up the overnight stuff and snacks that we would be leaving in the car and then double checked all of the hand luggage.
I had bought a fab travel documents folder from Little Sugar Plums, the fabric was so pretty and it was so great to have everything all securely in one place, it really did make travel day so much easier.

Travel day photos:

We checked out at about 10am I think and took the short drive over to gatwick. We had booked a parking package which included the one night in the hotel and 3 weeks parking in the Valet parking at Gatwick. We had seen the entrance to valet parking yesterday so knew where we were going, for anyone who doesn't know it is in the Gatwick short stay car park on level 2, so it is the same level as the airport entrances, so no need for lifts.
We parked the car and headed to the office where Simon quickly checked the car in and the chap explained what would happen on our return. We got a trolley to take our hand luggage and the car seat over to the airport, it wasn't really necessary but with Miley and Grayson it just made things easier.
It is always nice to walk straight past the busy Virgin desks in the morning when you have done twilight check in.
We walked around to Oversize baggage and dropped off the carseat no problems. Then it was time for security. This is really where MCO could learn a thing or two from Gatwick, the Family/Assistance security section is AMAZING! Seriously it just makes a massive difference to the day. We unloaded our bags of all eletricals and our bag of liquids and went through with no problems. ~
I had been worried about getting Miley and Grayson through here as Miley can be so sensitive about things and is a worrier, so I was concerned all the machines and stern looking adults may overwhelm her, but she was a total star and walked through the machine and came straight to me without a worry. I had also been worried that Grayson would be the opposite and would try climbing on the machinery and jumping on the conveyor belt, but luckily he sensed that this was not a playground!

We grabbed some breakfast at The Grain Store. This was nice enough. We all had some form of cooked breakfast, Miley in particular loved the beans that they served and ate all of hers and mine. Grayson loved his sausages (he pronounces them gegoffs! )
After we had paid the bill (and tried not to ignore the crazy price! ) we headed out into the terminal. We had two shops we needed to go in, Boots and WHSmiths. No more browsing at the airport for us anymore! lol.
In boots we wanted some Piriton (to try and knock Grayson out on the plane! ) and some sandwiches and drinks and then in WHSmiths we had promised the kids a magazine each and we got some pringles.

We sat down for a while outside Boots upstairs and took it in turns walking Grayson around. When it was getting close to boarding time Miley and I took a trip to the toilets.
Our gate was announced and we walked straight there, it didn't take long and we joined the queue of people at the gate and I was pleased to see that everyone was just getting straight onto the plane.
It didn't take long, although it felt longer as our hand luggage was so heavy, this was the first time I started longingly looking at other peoples cabin bags and thinking how much easier it would be!
The Virgin staff checking us in was super friendly and asked Miley about her holiday. Miley was too shy to talk to her, but she did her happy excited face which involves her opening her mouth wide and sticking her tongue out (you'll see lots of that face on this trip report!)
We walked through and were given some bottles of water and then entered the walkway to the plane. Exciting!

We were seated at the back of the plane on the side in two rows of two. So there was nobody behind us. This had been a strategic move as it limited the number of people Grayson could annoy if he played up during the flight (and it limited the number of people who could annoy us too!)

We got sorted and sat down, both of the kids had their tablets whilst we waited for take off.

We taxied along the runway and we could see we were in a big queue of planes all waiting to take off. It was quite cool really as Miley got to see so many planes take off from up close. Grayson had fallen asleep already! Only 8 hours left to go!

Take off was uneventful, as were the first couple of hours.
Grayson napped and Miley either played her tablet or watched Minions.

Grayson woke up after just under 2 hours and things became a bit more of a challenge, but definitely not bad.

(yes Grayson sometimes has a dummy. Just at bedtime at home or when he is very VERY grumpy. But on holiday he had it a lot more as it really made life so much easier)
Grayson had his tablet, he watched some TV, he played with Simon's phone, he played with a pack of superhero top trumps and he walked around a lot. He is a social and active little boy, so we knew the plane journey would be the worst bit.
I watched Sisters with Tina Fey and it really was quite funny, it took me 4 hours to watch it as I had to pause it so often!
Then we all played musical chairs for a while as Grayson was being grumpy and wanted me and then his dad and then me and then his dad... rinse, repeat.
Simon at this point started to get a bit grumpy himself, although if you ask him he'll say he only gets grumpy when we tell him he is grumpy. But I clearly remember having to remind him that it could be a lot worse than musical chairs.
I should also point out that as we had the back 2 rows of 2 our musical chairs wasn't bothering anyone.
I do remember looking at the sky map and we had 4hours and 45 minutes left and I wanted to cry! haha! I was exhausted already and I wondered how we would get through the next 7 or 8 hours.
As it turned out that was the worst point of the flight, Grayson evened out and got used to it and Miley was a superstar again.
After Sisters I watched Fantastic 4 and that again took me about 4 hours to watch because of the pausing.
But despite the long watch times I was pleased that I had gotten to watch two movies.
Simon meanwhile had only managed to watch half a movie by the time we landed, he watched the Hateful Eight. I asked what he had been doing when Grayson was asleep for almost 2 hours and he said he had just been sitting there as he though Grayson was going to wake up. Lol. You have to laugh.
Grayson watched the Minions, but he didn't like having headphones on so watched it with no sound.
And Miley watched Minions and also the Charlie Brown Movie.

For lunch the kids had chicken tenders with potato wedges and peas. And a GU salted caramel choc ganache for pudding. They didn't eat it! They lived on snacks we had brought with us (and the fab ice lolly)
Simon had some kind of curry I think, i'm not sure as he was sat behind me and I had spaghetti and meatballs. I think we both ate these and they were fine, but we left the salad and the bread roll. We also had the salted caramel chocolate ganache.

I must say that Virgin have everything so well timed out. Every time Miley and Grayson started to get a bit frazzled and fed up then virgin would be around with a meal or a drink or a snack. The ice cream in particular came at a point when Miley was really flagging and it certainly helped perk her up again.

Miley does not sleep anywhere other than in her bed. Ever. So I knew she'd stay awake on the plane. But I had hoped Grayson would nap again later on, considering that by the time we were due to land it would be 9.30pm UK time. But no such luck.

There was a family sat across from us and I noticed that the lady had a Brits guide book and was wearing Skechers go walks. So it made me wonder if she was a dibber. :-) ) I was keeping an eye out for a kipling bag.

The flight really went so much better than expected and neither of my kids caused any bother to anyone which was a relief, as there were certainly kids on the plane causing all sorts of noise, but I didn't care and was just thankful it wasn't me having to deal with it.
Grayson was good overall. He had his moments where he was driving us bonkers as he wouldn't sit still so was up and down constantly. But he's only 2 and is VERY active so 9 hours on a plane is a lot. He was great really and the only time it was an actual problem was when we were strapped in at the end for our descent into Florida.
He was sat behind me and Miley with his dad, but decided he actually wanted me (this never happens as he's a daddy's boy!) and he cried and shouted!

Throughout the rest of the flight we'd managed to 'control' him but at this point we were strapped in and he was exhausted as it was getting on for 10pm uk time and so it wasn't overly pleasant. I had to stretch my arm between the two seats to hold his hand. I am not particularly svelte and so squeezing my arm between the two seats was a challenge and gave me some terrible pins and needles! But it worked and he calmed down for landing.
Virgin gave us little packs of love hearts to suck whilst we landed and the kids loved these. Who am I kidding, so did I!

Once the seatbelt sign went off after landing he was super duper again and was playing and flirting with anyone who'd look at him! The steward (I think his name was Rory) was super here and really made a huge effort with Grayson whilst we waited to disembark.
To this day I never understand peoples reactions on a plane, before the light had even gone off you could hear loads of seatbelts unclicking and then the instant the light is off people were up out of their seats like a flash... to then stand in the aisle for a good 15 minutes.

Security was as you'd expect. Slow and nerve wracking! Im always terrified they'll say my finger prints have changed! Lol. Is it just me?! This was the point where I decided we would definitely be getting cabin bags next time! I was green with envy watching people stroll around with their hand luggage whilst mine actually pulled a muscle it was so cumbersome!

We were sat at the back of the plane and so baggage claim was easy as there were only a handful of bags left going around at that point :-)

Joined the queue and went through customs no problem.

And then oh joy! Second bag drop!

We'd hoped not to do it. But no chance. We had 4 pieces of hand luggage and a camera case. 3 suitcase and a small holdall. A car seat. And 2 very tired and grumpy kids who wanted to be carried. No chance

So we dutifully handed over our bags, wished them a speedy journey and caught the monorail. Both kids were excited about this and I couldn't be grumpy about anything right then because we were in Florida and our holiday was beginning!

Over to bag drop where we waited and waited and waited. Even when the cases came one of ours was missing! Doh! How did we lose one bag IN the airport!
But a Virgin rep was on the case before we could even worry or get stressed about it. And 10 minutes later our bag was here. Super.

Whilst we had been waiting for the bags a US baggage handler came up and gave both the kids some stickers! It was so sweet and exactly why I love it here! And it made both the kids smile.

We called Car on the Drive and headed out to meet them.

At this point Miley has become very emotional through tiredness and excitement. We understand Miley pretty well and so we knew this would happen.

As we were walking out to the pickup spot an American lady came up to us and asked if she could give Miley some candy. I said that was fine and she gave Miley a bag of sweets to cheer her up. She didn't work there, she had just arrived with her family and were going to collect their rental car and she happened to see Miley upset and tried to help.

Americans are bloody amazing!

It worked for a minute as I think Miley was so stunned that a lady had just given her a present.

Car on the drive arrived and that perked Miley up no end, so kid number 1 was okay. Whoop!
Once we were in the car Grayson fell asleep. Phew! But 2 minutes later he woke up crying and cried the rest of the drive. Oh dear!

He wanted a drink and to sit on Simons lap. Neither of which were possible as they'd had the last of our drinks at the airport and obviously he needed to stay strapped in. I think after 8 hours of being able to roam the plane freely he was annoyed that he once again had to be belted in.
I felt so bad as it can't have been easy to drive with the racket he was making!

We arrived at the villa, got out of the car and Grayson perked up immediately. Kids. Miley had finally given up the ghost and fallen asleep in the car!

The villa looked amazing and our lovely rental car was waiting for us. Yay! Car on the drive is a great service. So much nicer being able to relax and be driven to your holiday home.

And the villa was stunning! Unbelievable.
We got all the luggage out and brought it inside and the lady from Car on the Drive helped. I then got Miley out of the car and she woke up and her and Grayson ran around the villa whilst Simon and I sorted the pick up time with CotD.

The kids both were running around loving it and it was so great to see. They loved the games room and obviously the pool too.

After we'd looked around the men went out to hunt and gather (a trip to Walmart) and Miley and I unpacked the kids clothes quickly.

The packing bags I used inside the suitcase were Amazing! They made packing much easier. But unpacking was a breeze! So great.

Simon and grayson came back and we popped a pizza in the oven (it then took 40 minutes to cook!)

It was late and we were all cranky by this point, but also super excited to be in florida! Lol.

Tonight Miley slept in the main bedroom with me (I planned the whole holiday so I get dibs on the big bed! ) and Simon slept in another double room with Grayson. Although Grayson took a quilt from the Mickey Mouse room To sleep on.

Miley doesn't adjust well to change and can be quite nervous. And Grayson has never slept in a bed before. So we had been aware of the possibility that we end up sleeping in rooms with them for the holiday. But we will see how it goes.

I put Miley into bed (with all of her soft toys!) and then told her i'd pop to the bathroom and be right back. Five minutes later and Miley was passed out. She was totally exhausted. How cute is she?! I am one lucky mummy

She'd been a superstar all day and I can't explain how proud of her I was as she had taken it all in her stride and been so cooperative and patient during the travel despite being tired.
I laid in bed next to her and was so grateful to be back in Florida, this time as a family of 4 and I was just so happy and excited and proud.

It was 11pm US time when we had all gone to bed so excitement had really kept them going.

Simon told me Grayson had gone straight to sleep too. As had both Simon and I.

All in all its not been a bad travel day. We had a nice relaxed start to the day which was good and confirmed that we made the right decision to stay overnight. And there were no delays which I'm always thankful for.

Miley coped better with the travel than I could have ever hoped for. And Grayson was definitely better than he could have been.

I had changes of clothes for all of us, but luckily no changes of clothes were needed. Incidentally I had bought children's travel sickness tablets and wristbands just incase, but I actually forgot to use them.

Traveling with kids is hard! But it's also amazing as they see things that we don't see and so it's lovely to have that. On a Number of occasions Miley would point at something and be so excited and so it would make me smile and I'd look around and everyone else was oblivious to this little piece of magic that she had found.

Even in security we were smiling and playing with the kids. Because let's face it! We're in Florida! Yay! Yes we're shattered and just want to get to the villa, but the end is in sight! Whoop!

But the amount of seriously grumpy adults around us was crazy! I don't understand it really, yeah travel days are long, but sitting on a plane having food served to you whilst you watch movies and read books is really not such a bad deal. Especially because at the end of it you're in Florida!

Find the joy people!

And this is from a woman who is generally pretty grumpy! Lol.

So all in all we had a pretty good day and all went to bed happy to be in Florida and looking forward to what was to come.

[chazb]

Ahh what a fab travel day. I totally understand how you feel about travel day and I also worried about the kids upsetting other people. Miley seems like such a well behaved little girl and I think Grayson coped really well, he is only two after all. I really didn't enjoy our travel day. Looking forward to more x

[Guest]

Great travel day. the kids done really well and your right it is hard travelling with kids but once your prepared etc it can make things a lot easier! car on the drive is a great service. Villa looks amazing, really enjoying your trippie and looking forward to the next day. I can feel your excitement through it!

[berniegroves]

Originally Posted by chazb

Ahh what a fab travel day. I totally understand how you feel about travel day and I also worried about the kids upsetting other people. Miley seems like such a well behaved little girl and I think Grayson coped really well, he is only two after all. I really didn't enjoy our travel day. Looking forward to more x

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Thanks hun. Miley has her moments (like all kids) but she really did do exceptionally well for such a long travel day. And Grayson did do well, bless him.
Our travel day was definitely better than expected.

Originally Posted by orlandolover04

Great travel day. the kids done really well and your right it is hard travelling with kids but once your prepared etc it can make things a lot easier! car on the drive is a great service. Villa looks amazing, really enjoying your trippie and looking forward to the next day. I can feel your excitement through it!

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Thanks so much. Yep, it was hard travelling with two little ones, but we tried to be super organised and had a lot of stuff to entertain them.
Car on the Drive really was great and made a big difference to us on travel day. So much easier.
Thanks again, i'm glad you've enjoyed it so far

[waiting4disney]

I hate the 2nd bag drop. Look forward to your reports.

[collybird]

Glad you had a smooth travel day! The kids did so well and it was an inspired seat choice.

Your villa looks absolutely amazing!

Miley and all her cuddly toys are melting my heart.

[Jockey]

Great travel day!

[berniegroves]

Originally Posted by waiting4disney

I hate the 2nd bag drop. Look forward to your reports.

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I know, its just the worst thing about a Florida holiday!
Thanks so much

Originally Posted by collybird

Glad you had a smooth travel day! The kids did so well and it was an inspired seat choice.

Your villa looks absolutely amazing!

Miley and all her cuddly toys are melting my heart.

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Thanks hun. The seat choice really did help.
The villa was fab!
Ah, I know, she is such a sweetie

Originally Posted by Jockey

Great travel day!

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Thanks for reading

[ely3857]

The back rows of twos are fab. Keeps the kids separate so they don't wind each other up and as you say, less people around for the kids to annoy. We had them last time and are ready for day 336 to book them again!

[berniegroves]

Originally Posted by ely3857

The back rows of twos are fab. Keeps the kids separate so they don't wind each other up and as you say, less people around for the kids to annoy. We had them last time and are ready for day 336 to book them again!

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Exactly! My kids love each other and can play really nicely together. But they can also REALLY wind each other up! lol.

Unfortunately we didn't manage to get them on the way home so had to have a row of 4. I can safetly say I prefer the rows of 2.
I hope you manage to get them booked.