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Old 26 May 19, 04:35 PM  
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MadHatter1
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Rogue One - Day 1 – Travel Day.

Rogue One - Day 1 – Travel Day.

Welcome to our trip report!😎

Crew: me (mum), Thomas (age 11) and George (age 10)
Location: Rosen Inn at Pointe Idrive (1 week) and Hard Rock Hotel Universal (1 week)
Index: here

--------

Yay! Travel day.
6am
Me: “hurrah” [running around the house screaming].
Boys: “why are you waking me up? Stop filming me!”
I know, I don’t know why they would be so grumpy either.

Grandad gave us a lift to the airport.





& here is LHR T3 bright and early in the morning.




We had a fantastic breakfast at Strada.🍽






Following this there was a bit of faffing about where T decided he couldn’t possibly face plane food not even BA plane food so we had to stop for a Boots Meal Deal and a few other bits and bobs which I couldn’t put in the case because we were flying hand luggage only as per usual.
& then we headed for the gate.



Time for a selfie



We did the usual sitting here while they called up each row of seats and G&T excitedly said “is this us?” every time, despite knowing full well which row we were in.



One good thing about flying to Miami is that you do get a proper plane, I mean a 747 jumbo. Never mind any of this new age Dreamliner nonsense you can’t beat a jumbo jet.

& it is boarding time!




Yes boredom is starting to set in.



We all had the red Thai curry which for plane food is actually very good. Turned out T didn’t really need to bother with the sandwich.



Here are a few more random pics we took on the plane.



Now I know I said you can’t beat a jumbo jet but this plane did need a refurb the screens in the seat backs were tiny and that window is a bit too scratched for a decent wing shot.



Hoping the pilots got a clearer view than we have!



This is Ts forlorn face. It is when you are on the Miami SkyTrain Monorail thingymajig and know you have a fair amount of travelling still in from of you.




We had landed half an hour early which meant we had 3 hrs to clear American immigration and customs and get back through security for our next flight. We hadn’t checked our bags into the hold which sped things up a bit. I remember it seeming dead quick to get through immigration and then when we were on the other side I decided to check in our cases, this seemed to take a bit longer because I had to find the machines which didn’t seem to work and printout the luggage tags and then queue up to check-in the bags. I had decided to do this because the second plane is smaller and I don’t think our cases would have fitted into the overhead lockers. It turned out that when you got to the gate they would have just checked the cases there so I needn’t have gone to all the trouble.


Once we were through security again we wandered around as we had time to kill before needing to go to the gate, we got a Starbucks.



The next flight was American Airlines and it was newly refurbed plane. It did actually feel a lot fresher than the last plane.



When we landed at Tampa it had much improved feel to Miami, just a lot quieter and organised. Even the monorails are cool.





Once we had come off this monorail our cases seemed to be delivered to us the minute we got to baggage claim. & it was time for the next monorail to the car rentals.



When your travel day has been so long you have ridden more monorails than you care to recall.



Anyway our Avis Preferred scheme meant we could go straight to the garage without having to listen to someone sell us insurance we didn’t need.



This is where I started to get a bit worried because I had hired the ‘Mustang or similar’. Now I know that Avis consider a convertible Beetle to be similar to a convertible Mustang and they are wrong. This is bad because Avis might mistakenly try and give me a convertible Beetle and if I were to then drive it someone might see me.

Before anyone says anything yes I actually quite like Beetles but if you have hired an American muscle car that is what you want not something which would look better on an English road.

We go to the garage to show my driver’s licence and collect the keys, and I see this:-



Sooo I am gearing myself up for a negotiation.
She just looks at my licence and tells me where the car is.
“What is it?” I ask
She looks at me like I am a moron and says very slowly and loudly.
“It is blue.”

There was loads of room in the trunk.



Okay yes so we have mini cases and there are only 3 of us but really it didn’t seem that bad to me.

So we pulled out of the multi storey and had to find somewhere to set the SatNav luckily there was somewhere to pull into specifically for that purpose that is because this is America, it would never happen in the UK we would just have fines for people who tried to pull over.

I tried in vain to set this SatNav I had hired on ebay, but it didn’t seem to like what I was putting in and insisted I was asking it to go to Pennsylvania, I managed to get it to accept International Drive or something equally vague. Then I looked up and saw the Mustang had a SatNav in it.



I started to type in the name of the hotel and I think that is where the car had just come from. So I had two SatNavs going which were at times giving me conflicting instructions.

We got going and I just about pulled onto the I4 when the biggest thunder storm even by Florida standards started. Visibility at this stage could best be described as cannot see hand in front of face.



It instantly went dark, I think about this point T who was in the back fell asleep with his last words being;

“I am not sleeping I just like lying down”

G managed to stay awake a bit longer but his head kept nodding, he was helping with directions and doing really well. Suicidal frogs kept jumping onto the I4 in front of us and there were loads of accidents on the road as some people didn’t slow down for the weather.

The last bit of the drive I had the aircon and radio turned up and both boys asleep. It is a long day but I even remember thinking then that it isn’t too bad. Actually, I paid about £1500 for 3 of us for flights and a car and we were flying direct on the way back so it is excellent value really.
Eventually we found Idrive and both SatNavs immediately announced we had arrived, which we had not! Luckily, I knew vaguely where I was going so woke up both boys instructed them to look for a upside down museum and mentally prepared myself for a left turn. It was much easier than I expected and finally we arrived.



T stayed asleep in the back of the car while me and G went to check in, this seemed to take a disproportionally long time and when we finally got it all sorted and the car parked and found the block we were in, I realised I didn’t know the room number and had to go back to find out, both boys with me. I got a beer from the shop while I was there, offered the boys to get something for breakfast and they grabbed something to drink to put in the fridge. We walked back to our room and both boys collapsed in bed.

Thanks for reading.😴
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Old 27 May 19, 07:26 AM  
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Goldia
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I love your boys excited to be going on holiday faces! My DS is similar in photos too! Great travel day, well done to you for driving through that rain after a long flight. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your report.
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Old 27 May 19, 07:51 AM  
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Oh cool - similar plans to us 3 this year - looking forward to your report - thanks for sharing!
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Old 27 May 19, 08:36 PM  
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Loulabelle18
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Oh god I feel stressed for you. You did soooo well looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip xx
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Old 27 May 19, 09:06 PM  
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sotagals
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"I am not sleeping I just like lying down". Love it.

Can't beat an epic travel day, especially when you've bagged a bargain. Even with suicidal frogs coming at you!

Edited at 09:08 PM.
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Old 28 May 19, 07:57 AM  
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JenD1
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Long but good travel day. Your boys are gorgeous and look so like you. Happy holidays!😊
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Old 28 May 19, 08:30 AM  
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A long day but worth it for the savings .i’m in Awe of you driving in that rain in a foreign country
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Old 28 May 19, 11:33 AM  
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What a great travel day, you all seemed to be so relaxed with the flights. Two lovely son's , hope you all have an amazing time.
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Old 28 May 19, 02:27 PM  
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AJ86
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“I am not sleeping I just like lying down”

haha best line, I might start saying this!

Sounds a long day but glad it all went smoothly!
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Old 17 Mar 24, 04:19 PM  
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I'm reading this awfully late but noticed someone's comment about the boys faces...mine have always been exactly the same!
You are inspiring, I thought I was brave doing LHR-DUB-MCO but not only did you fly via Miami you then drove from Tampa to Orlando in a storm! Wow!
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