The Wedding trip- Day 1 - Gatwick & Virgin

[Hels80]

Cast:
Me- Helen 31 (chief of the secret planning league)
My other half- Jamie 34 (oblivious to the planning)
Our daughter - Hollie 4 - Loves Minnie, Mickey, Pluto, Donald, Daisy...
My mum - worried about the heat
My dad- has always wanted to take the grandkids to Disney
My brother- not too keen on the idea, but he's coming
His wife- not too keen on the heat
My neice- 5, gorgeous little girl who is really looking forward to seeing the princesses and fairies.
My nephew- 1, gorgeous little monkey.
My friend & bridesmaid Tracy- shopaholic and very excited!
Her daughter Madeline 4- Hollie's best friend and worst enemy rolled in to one.
Tracy's mum Frances- Irish, great laugh- looking forward to rest days!
Jamie's mum Linda - not been on holiday for years so looking forward to it!
Jamie's dad Gordon - best man and very excited about his new holiday pyjamas!
(Also out there but not staying/travelling with us; Christina my best mate and chief bridesmaid, Phil her husband, Abigail their daughter aged 4 and their baby Caitlyn aged 3 months! )

Crikey- that's a line up!


We wake up after a night at the Russ Hill Life Hotel just outside Gatwick. Now we have read some bad reviews on this place, but have to say we were pleasantly surprised. For £65 inc parking, it was a bargain. We ate at the carvery the night before which was lovely. Yes the hotel was a bit dated, but it was absolutely fine, so we were glad we booked it and got a bargain!
We used their shuttle service to Gatwick and met up with the rest of the clan at Gatwick. I had done online check in for everyone, so we went to baggage drop.
It was really busy in Gatwick, but before too long, we were through security and in to the lounge. Our plane VS015 was delayed by 35 mins, so we lounged around a bit.
We finally were called to our gate not too long after expected. Flight was uneventful, apart from my nephew hating his 'car' seat thing and screaming for take off. Bless him. He was fine once seat belts were allowed off and he loved wandering up and down with all of us. None of the children slept apart from Madeline. Hollie watched Monsters V Aliens 3 times!
Eventually we arrived, in the middle of a horrible thunder storm.
We got through immigration within 10 mins- really fast! Our luggage came fairly quickly, and we were off! Or so we thought.
We were suddenly faced with an escalator. 4 suitcases per family, 4 children and not enough hands, so...the luggage had to go on the conveyor belt. We pondered about where it might be going (I'd flown to Sanford last time) but thought it would be fine and went up to the monorail.
We managed to find the baggage claim no2 and waited. We waited some more, then I said maybe I should go and sort the car hire. So I did that while the rest waited and waited and waited.
Meanwhile, I asked Dollar to upgrade 1 of our 7 seater cans to a 12. They wanted to charge us $400, so I said no we can't afford it.
To cut a long story short, we ended up with 2 12 seater vans for $186so it's def worth a haggle!
Suddenly, I heard a cheer, and turned round to find the luggage belt moving and some suitcases appearing. Apparently the belt had broken, so we waited 2 hours for the luggage we'd already claimed once! This had really got to some of the party, so we headed off straight to Dollar in the pouring rain and really loud thunder!
I must admit that when I saw the size on the vans, I cowered. Luckily Jamie's dad drives a van but my brother was less keen.
We said we'd wait for him and he could follow us, but something happened and before we even left the car park, we had to pull over to wait for him. Next thing we knew, he had turned towards to terminals and was in the car park next to us. Then he was in front of us, so we caught up with him and tried to catch his eye by flashing lights. Then he turned left, and we got cut up so we couldn't follow him.
So basically, his van was lost and there was no way we could turn back and find him. Luckily we managed to get hold of him on his mobile. Tensions were running high and I was very upset, but they had found a holiday inn and had gone in there for the night.
I was gutted as I had booked the entire holiday and felt it was my responsibilty to make sure everyone had a good time. It was very very stressful!
Anyway, we made it quite easily to our Regal Palms villa with the help of TomTom. Thank god we brought it!
We checked in, and looked round both houses to make sure they were ok. Both were gorgeous and well looked after. After a quick glass of wine, we went to bed and hoped things would be better in the morning!

[Guest]

Oh that must have been terrible losing him like that on your first night. Hope things get better tomorrow

[shirley]

maybe your brother should have had a sat nav too. poor man.

[Wills]

Oh dear hope your brother found you ok the next day!

[summersun]

hope he found you ok!

[Guest]

What a nightmare...hope the rest of your trip was less stressful.

[sharonkll]

Oh My...

I think getting out of the airport can be the most stressful part of the whole holiday, regardless of how many times you have done it! Which is one of the reasons why we are using CAR ON THE DRIVE this time...

Looking forward to your next day, to see if you found each other ok.

xxx

[Guest]

Ohh what a stress traveling can be with such a
big gang!
Anyway your there safely now you can relax and enjoy your self
Great post
thanks for sharing

[Guest]

Hiya

Well can empathise with a lot of this, feeling responsbility for everyone when you have planned stuff, and thanking God for the Tom To which saved us time and inconvenience, even if it wasn't spot- on everytime - it was always pretty reliable!

Great stuff, am sure its all going to be great once you are reunited, horrible getting separated like that!

Everything always looks better through a wineglass, I find

Thx for sharing!
ATB
squigls

[Fairy+4]

My word what a stressful time, really hope everything gets better from here on in.