Florida Trip no3 - Day 13 - September 2019

[AJ86]

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Day 13 - 26th September 2019 - Travel day and not the good one!

We are up by around 9am by some one knocking at the door, which is housekeeping to see if we have left yet, which of course we hadn’t. We hadn’t even taken a look at packing yet and still had stuff everywhere. We perform some sort of miracle and manage to pack everything we have brought into our cases, we throw a couple of pairs of old trainers out that had had it or hurt out feet. I then asked the check in folk if I could borrow their scales and we have one case at 21kg and the other at 19kg so we are happy to know we got a bit spare if needed. We check out of the hotel load our stuff into the car and wave good bye to the All Star Movies, we enjoyed our stay, although we hadn’t seen much apart from the lobby and block 2. I’m not sure if we would rush back here, think we have been spoiled by French Quarter, and also really liked the look of Conorando Springs when we drove past on the bus. We head to Disney springs and bag a spot in the lime garage near the front and head to blaze for a final pizza.

We choose our favourite bbq chicken, and are surprised at how busy it is for a 1130 in the morning. We do some more wondering around the shops, and again bump into our friends who are leaving today also, so we use some more of their discount, which we were very grateful for, in all I think they saved us around $80-$100 in buying stuff and in food as well. So I can see that is a massive perk for you AP’s out there.


No stop to Disney springs would be complete with out a final trip to Ghirardelli so we stop off for some more samples and a magical sundae, to enjoy in the shade and people watch. Time is ticking down and the moment has come that fills us with dread, time to head to the airport.

We have used about half a tank, so we fill up and $47 later we think this is a lot, but had probably chosen the most expensive one around to fill up at. Head to terminal B and drop the car off at Avis, they give it the once over and we are given the ok and headed on the way.


I do see Avis getting a bad rep on here, but we have always used them in the any country we go to and the cars and staff have always been amazing, so wouldn’t hesitate to use them again. We check in with Delta, and TSA only takes around 15 mins to get through, we glare at every one getting off the monorail as they are full of joy and happiness just about to start their own Florida adventure.


Our flight is from gate 71 so near the hub, we grab a drink from Burger King and sit by the gate and plane watch. I see a couple of the Thomas cook repatriation flights, and wonder what kind of service
they will get, from what I have read online it is fairly basic with just soft drinks being offered, not sure if that is different on the long haul flights.

Our Delta flight to Atlanta is on time and we take off and land about 15 mins late as the pilot had to take the long way round due to bad weather.

They do a service of soft drinks and crackers or cookies on board, which they didn’t manage to complete the whole cabin on the short flight. We taxi to the B gates and as soon as the seat belt signs go off this lady starts to rush forward but gets stuck around our row and begs people to move out the way, she had to get a connection and landing late it gave her about 7 mins to get off our plane and to the next. I don’t think she made it as we didn’t start to leave our row for another 5 mins or so, but I hope they held it for her.


its now around 7 and we haven’t really eaten since Disney springs, so we spot a popeyes and have some chicken box meal thing, so a sort of weird way to book end the holiday with the first and last American meals being here.

Atlanta airport isn’t the sprawling mess I thought it would be, it was really easy to navigate, and the monorail thing was super easy to get from the B gates to the F gates for our flight to London. I’m glad we ate earlier as in the international terminal it was full of fancy restaurants, and not the sort we wanted before our flight.

The Delta flight to London was on time, and 99% full. I’m not sure what the US government in hiding down there, but for some reason the crew didn’t want us looking out our windows once during this
flight. As we sat down the windows blinds were closed, so I opened mine up. Then once taken off the crew tell everyone to close them and not to open it until breakfast service, again the rebel that I am I leave mine open, its pitch black out there so don’t see the harm!

Dinner is an option of pasta or chicken and veg, I go for the chicken which is actually really nice for plane food, and then I am good and follow the rules and close my blind, as I know it will start to get light soon outside. I manage to doze for about half an hour, so give up and watch Aladdin again, they switch the lights on about an hour and half before landing and service a breakfast box which is a peach muffin, honey yogurt and a slice of cheese, very random!

I open my window now that we are allowed and not over US airspace, and enjoy the approach into Heathrow over central London, little tip for you if flying into Heathrow, get a seat on the right, you will get stunning views of central London.

We land around 15 mins early and are greeted by the chilly temps of the UK. Immigration is fairly straight forward, and bags are out soon after. We get the bus to the long term parking and find our car. It takes me a while to remember to drive on the correct side of the road and also that we drive a manual not an automatic.

The M25 is its usual car park self, so we are home around 1pm, we dump our cases and head to bed for a couple of hours. We console our selves after with a takeaway Indian and watch Mulan and Tangled, along with a couple of classic cartoons for old time sake.

So that is the end of our amazing 2 week jaunt in Florida.

Thanks for sticking with me, I have really enjoyed reliving the holiday.

Can’t wait for the next one!