Brett, Jo & Marceline’s ‘Forget Everything We Know’ Adventure - Day 1: Marceline's First Flight

[Happyhaunt1000]

INDEX

So here we are again! (Wait, have I already used that introduction in the past? I'm too lazy to actually go back and look, so I'll assume I haven't and just crack on!)

Starting another Trip Report is always a little daunting to me. You've been and had your adventures… you’re back to the daily grind of life at work… and it feels like those 2 weeks in paradise flew by in the blink of an eye. But then you're presented with the opportunity to relive all the good (and bad) times you had on holiday and commit them to paper (well, not paper… but you know what I mean!)

If you've read any of my previous reports you know that I don't scrimp on the details. Everything that happens that is fairly noteworthy goes into my reports… be that retelling the enjoyable days we spend with friends drinking around the world… or the ridiculous ‘about nothing’ arguments that me and Jo have, which lead to us walking off in opposite directions and not speaking to each other for an hour. It's all there. Sorry!

Before I actually get cracking with the travel day, I’ll do what I've done previously and catch you up on what's been happening between posting the Pre-Trip Report and us departing for Florida.

To be honest… not a lot has happened really. I know it was Christmas, and as such Marceline's first Christmas, but (maybe it’s because we’re bad parents) we just felt like there was no need to go to extreme lengths seeing as she would only be 8 months old and ultimately wouldn't remember any of it. Sure she got presents, and was made a fuss of by her grandparents, but the thing I was most looking forward to was having some time off work and getting to spend some quality time with just her and Jo. Of course, the moment I finished work I started feeling ill. I plied myself with cold and flu tablets and ate my bodyweight in kiwi fruits (higher in Vitamin C than an orange, in case you didn't know), but this then led to Marceline getting her first cold. Cue little to no sleep for me and Jo while we tended to Marceline who was either up most of the night because she was coughing or because she just decided she wasn't tired. As always, the law of the sods meant that the day I was due to go back to work was the day I finally shifted the cold and was feeling 100%.

Over Christmas and New Year we (me and Jo) were able to look at the advice fellow Dibbers had left us in the comments section of our PTR about the child swap system at Disney, and as such had a little fiddle with our Fastpasses. Essentially we just cancelled a couple of FPs for one of us on Test Track and swapped them for Soarin FPs, and did the same with a Space Mountain FP, which one of us swapped for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. This way, one of us uses the FP, and the other uses the child swap voucher (essentially a paper fastpass) to get more of the big rides done. Although, if I'm being perfectly honest, the thought of riding attractions on our own made the whole thing just a little less fun.

As it got closer, a few questions started to creep into our mind prior to the travel day… like ‘why the hell are we taking a 9 month old baby on a 9 and ½ hour flight?’ and ‘what's her body clock going to be like when we’re there?’ I wouldn't say we started to panic, but a few nerves had appeared. That was until one day when we were walking over the park and I was testing out the baby carrier (which I’d planned on using quite a bit whilst out there) and we came to the conclusion that we needed to just forget everything we know about doing the parks. We were going to a place that we knew like the back of our hands… but we were doing it with an unknown element… Marceline!

Sure you can read other people's TRs and get a rough idea of how doing WDW with a young child could be… but everyone’s kids are different, and even though Marceline’s brilliant, there's still no telling how she was going to be once we were there. So we decided to go into the trip with little to no expectations. That way we could roll with the punches… deal with things as they occur. It also made me glad we hadn't booked more ADRs, as we could just see how the day was playing out and do things accordingly. We had FPs booked for each day, but so what if we didn't get to Peter Pan’s Flight and ride it at 2pm on Sunday… we could do it another day! And with that frame of mind firmly in place we relaxed for the final couple of weeks ‘til the travel day loomed large. I say relaxed…. we were still both stressing a little about getting to the airport, whether Marceline would sleep on the plane or not, whether we’d be those ParentWombles in Premium Economy with the child who screams non stop to Florida… ya know... normal stuff!

In previous trips we’d normally take three cases with us (usually two large cases with a slightly smaller one inside). Then, when we were out there, we’d buy a fourth (and sometimes fifth) case, which has led to us having a loft full of second rate ‘emergency’ suitcases (which always smell funny inside) that we’d never be using again and would just sit up there gathering dust. We decided this year we’d break that cycle and get four nice new lightweight suitcases and take them with us to begin with. Marceline was allowed a suitcase herself, so inside one of those four, we packed a giant holdall which we would obviously fill on the way home with all her new toys and clothes. In one of the other cases we packed Marceline’s buggy… we specifically bought a super compact one that folds small enough to go in a case, just for holidays… and yes, I know you can just hand them over at the door when you get on the plane, but then we’d have had four cases and a buggy to pick up from the carousel at Orlando International... which, along with a baby, is totally unmanageable up the escalators to the shuttle. And there was absolutely no way we were wasting precious time doing the second bag drop!

(I'm sorry if this is really dull for some of you, but I’ve had some people contact me through other social media saying that they’re going to be reading this TR and will be treating it as a kind of ‘what to expect’ as they are planning trips with babies. Because of that, I'm trying to include all the things that went through our minds… but also what we had to deal with on a practical level.)

If you’re still with me, we’re finally getting to the part of the report that covers the actual holiday! It was now Thursday 19th January (the day before we flew) and I was going into work for a couple of hours to finalise a few things, then heading home and starting to pack. We’d sorted out the clothes we were taking, and had them in various piles around the house so they just needed putting in cases. By 1:30 I was home, and at 2pm Beryl (Jo’s mum) came and collected Marceline. She kindly said she’d take her off our hands for a few hours so we could get everything packed and sorted, and not have to worry about keeping Marceline entertained. Basically, this was just a way for her and Steve (Jo’s dad) to get in some extra hours of Nanny and Grandad cuddles with Marceline before not seeing her for 2 weeks… but hey, it helped us out immensely and by about 7pm when they arrived we literally just had to put the last couple of things in our hand luggage and we were done.



After a dinner of fish and chips, Beryl got a few more cuddles in with Marceline as she wasn't coming to the airport with us in the morning. We’d decided it would be easier if they took our hairy baby Tarn with them tonight so she could get settled at their place. Not that she really needs to, she bloody loves it there… it's like she gets her own little holiday! So with Tarn and all her luggage loaded into the car, we said our goodbyes, got Marceline ready and into bed, finished the final bits of packing and actually managed to relax for a bit! I don't recall what time we went to bed but I'm sure it was around midnight, and it didn't take very long before we were both sound asleep.

After a restful, undisturbed night's sleep, Jo's alarm went off at about 5:45am. I think she’d chosen the most shrill, annoying alarm tone she could find! It was like being shouted at by an angry buzzard! We decided that the best plan of action would be to leave Marceline asleep for as long as possible, for Jo to start getting ready, and for me to just stay in bed looking at Twitter

With Jo getting ready downstairs it wasn't long before I heard the noise of a wide awake Marceline emanating from her room. On very rare occasions she’ll wake up in a bad mood and be a little ratty… but thankfully, today wasn't one of those days. Instead she was standing up in her cot beaming from ear to ear. I scooped her up and took her back to our bed and waited for Jo to finish whatever she was doing. It wasn't long and she was upstairs, taking Marceline off for her morning feed. I was now up and about, and it took me all of about three minutes to get ready.




THANK YOU TO NICKI2014 FOR THE SUPER COOL BABYGRO

With suitcases lined up neatly downstairs and hand luggage all but packed, it was now just a case of waiting for Steve to arrive to take us to the airport. At 6:55am he was at the door and 10 minutes later the car was loaded, and we were switching off all the plugs and locking up the house.


GRANDAD STEVE GETTING SOME LAST MINUTE CUDDLES

It was an uneventful journey to Gatwick. A little bit of traffic, a slight diversion to bypass an accident, and Marceline sleeping pretty much the whole journey. The only thing of slight interest happened when we were about 20 minutes away from the airport when Jo turned round and said to me “I guess you packed the iPad in your bag?” The second she asked me I knew I hadn't! I'd put the damn thing on charge the night before and left it in the corner of the room. It's a place we never normally charge the iPad, and as such, when I'd gone over there to switch off some plugs, I just didn't notice it sitting on top of our printer!
“No, I forgot. It's on the side” I said. She just rolled her eyes and turned back round to face front. Suddenly though, her head whipped back round.
“Are you serious?”
“Yep, totally left it on the side… and my phone charger that was plugged in charging it.”
She just looked and me and quietly turned back round. I wasn't too bothered... I've taken a tablet the past three trips to Orlando and hardly used it at all. BUT… I'd spent some time loading up the iPad with Adventure Time episodes (a programme that seems to calm Marceline when she's not sleeping or is being particularly restless)... so we’d kinda counted on it being our ‘go-to’ item this trip if we were in trouble. But now we had no such fall back, and only one iPhone charger between the two of us.


STRAPPED IN AND READY FOR BIG ADVENTURE


ALL THIS TRAVELLING IS VERY TIRESOME


WAKE ME WHEN WE GET THERE

We arrived at Gatwick around 8:40am, and with the car unloaded it was now time to slip into my sexy baby carrier/rucksack combo. Check in was quick and simple… but I was informed I'd been selected for an additional security check at the gate before boarding the plane. Cosmic.


ELEVATOR PHOTOS WOULD BECOME A THEME DURING THIS HOLIDAY


PARTY UP THE FRONT, BUSINESS AT THE BACK

We said goodbye to Steve, and Marceline got a final kiss and cuddle. We tried to get her to give him a little wave goodbye… but she just stared at him as always, smiling from ear to ear! I'd only really used the baby carrier on a couple of previous occasions and having her dangling in front of me felt incredibly weird. (Although by the end of the trip I'd feel weird when I WASN'T wearing it!)

Up the escalator and towards the security area, we were stopped by an airport employee who asked if we were about to go through. We told him we were and that we had the ‘Priority’ thing as we were flying PE. He said that we might be better off going through the family security check area though, as you kind of go through together and there was no rush to get through. We said ok and headed off in that direction.

I put my wallet and phone in a tray and turned to ask if I needed to remove Marceline from the carrier. They said no and the pair of us went through without an issue. On the other side, my tray come down along with Jo's tray and her bag… but my rucksack had been slid into an area out of reach. Apparently there was an issue with something. Oh great! I tried to think what the offending item would be. Had I forgotten to take out another bottle of water, like I seem to do every year?

We’d have to wait about five minutes before we’d find out, as there was an old couple being particularly rude to airport staff as they went through a couple of their bags. They'd been in front of us since we walked through the detectors and they got on my nerves pretty quickly because, as always, they weren't listening to the instructions being given to them by members of the security team. Also.. they literally had no spacial awareness and on a few occasions had nearly hit Marceline and I with an object they were carrying or swinging, or just kept stepping backwards for no apparent reason. Having Marceline in front of me had made me very cautious about keeping a gap between me and other people… but these two seemed to think that extra room was for them to d*ck about in!

My rucksack was eventually grabbed by a security guy and we were called round. He opened the bag as we were talking and asked if we had a Kindle in there. Yes. Yes we did… and I'd forgotten to take it out. He pulled the Kindle out of the bag, looked at it, said it was fine, put it back in, zipped up the rucksack and we were off!

Duty Free held no interest for us this year as we were all desperate for food. After a quick look round to see which restaurants were there (hardly any as it happens, due to all the refurb work going on), we decided to go for the Grain Store. We were seated and they brought over a highchair for Marceline. I decided not to put her straight into it, and to instead let her stand on my lap. As always, she was nosing around looking at everyone else and seeing what was going on… and very quickly she was reaching out towards the mother/daughter duo who were sitting on the table to our left. She could see them eating and she wanted some of it! (This is a trend that would continue throughout the holiday!)

The waiter came over and took our order… I went for the Breakfast Omelette and Jo ordered scrambled eggs on toast. Marceline would have a bit of all of that, so she was sorted. Now, before this trip started Jo made a bold statement... she said (and I quote) “I want to have a cocktail with every meal!” I’m not sure how you all feel about this but, to me, breakfast is a meal. So when I point out to Jo that she should be ordering a cocktail she says that she only meant her evening meal! Well, she's clearly changing the rules before we’ve even got to Florida. So to make up for her having a cup of tea instead of something with more of a kick, I ordered a Bloody Mary.



The drinks came out after a few minutes and within seconds of the waiter putting my Bloody Mary on the table, Marceline was grabbing at the straw and somehow managed to get her tiny fingers on it. I pulled the drink away with my right hand, and with my left arm I pulled her back from the table. It was too late though… and she flipped the straw out of the drink, up in the air and onto the table. The ‘flipping’ caused BM to shoot out the end of the straw and onto my jeans! It was at this point I think I realised that it didn't matter what I did… if we were eating, the child was going to get me/us covered in food and drink. So at this early stage of the holiday, I sort of gave up caring what I looked like.


THAT LOOKS NICE DADDY. CAN I HAVE SOME?


A BORING PICTURE OF A CUP OF TEA


IT DIDN’T LAST LONG

We’d been sitting at the table for about 15-20 minutes and people nearby who all arrived after us were getting their food while we were still sat there waiting. I hypothetically asked Jo what an acceptable amount of time was to be waiting for breakfast... she said to give it a couple more minutes but we were all starving at this point so I tried to get the attention of the server. After putting my arm up in the air (and waving it like I just didn't care) I finally got his attention. Just as I started to ask where our food was, someone else brought it over. Turns out my omelette was oven baked… hence it taking so long! I wouldn't mind… but it wasn't some amazing omelette either! It was bland and dense… and that's pretty much all I can say about it! I cut some out of the pan and put it to the side to cool so Marceline could eat it, but she’s an impatient girl when it comes to food so Jo gave her some small pieces of toast.


IT TASTED AS BLAND AS THIS PICTURE LOOKS


SPEAKING OF BLAND


EVEN MARCELINE’S NOT ENJOYING IT

I struggled to eat the tasteless mass that was my omelette, and the extremely spicy Bloody Mary wasn't making this meal any more enjoyable! Jo’s breakfast was fine, but then again it was just scrambled eggs on toast… not a lot they could do wrong to that! Once we were finished in the Grain Store, I secured Marceline back into the carrier and we headed over to Boots to buy a couple of meal deals for the flight. Over the years we think the food served on Virgin flights has got steadily worse. I used to be one of those people who thought plane food was actually pretty good… but those days are long gone. After buying our meal deals and a couple of fruit puree pouches for Marceline, we looked up which gate we needed to be at and began the long trek. I hadn't realised the time… and Jo pointed out that we needed to get a wiggle on as before we boarded we needed to change Marceline. So after a quick stop in the family toilet, a pit-stop like nappy change, and a quick picture of the youngest member of the DADC sporting her hoodie that the lovely Wizzo family had bought her (thanks Paul, Lynn, Lauren & Maddy), we set off towards whatever our fate was to be!


MIRROR KISSES


#DADC FOR LIFE

Once at the gate, I had to take her out of the carrier and then take off the carrier itself so I could go through the additional security check… which basically involved a guy frisking me and opening my rucksack, but not really looking in it! Luckily they’d just called for Premium Economy passengers to board, so we joined the line, and a few minutes later we were on the plane and chucking a left to a pair of bulkhead seats downstairs. As we walked past the already seated passengers, we could see them looking at Jo and I, and then noticing the carrier and seeing Marceline. I know those eyes… I've made them myself when I've seen someone bringing a baby into the area where I'm sat. “Who brings a baby into Premium?” I'd say whilst sat in the ‘bubble’ sipping Champagne (which is actually the nasty sparkling wine they give you before take-off). “God I hope it doesn’t cry for the whole flight!” Well those were the eyes I was getting. Especially from the two businessmen sat behind us!

After about five minutes of taking things out of bags, moving baby toys from one place to another, unbuckling the carrier and sorting out Marceline, the three of us were finally sat down. The flight wasn't particularly busy, and being sat downstairs meant to our left there were four empty seats. There were, in fact, spare seats dotted all around the this section. A few minutes passed and a crew member came over to us and said that if during the flight we wanted to move over to the four spare seats so we had a bit more room, that would be fine. It's funny because I'd overheard a guy, sitting with his family in the four seats a couple of rows behind the empty one, speaking to this specific cabin crew member and asking if they could all move down to the front after take-off… and he was told categorically that he couldn't! She then made a bit of a fuss of Marceline and was impressed when she got a baby high-five from her (another thing we’d been trying to teach her before we went away).


WHEN YOU’RE A FIRST TIME FLYER EVERYTHING IS EXCITING… EVEN PLAYING WITH FREE INFLIGHT HEADPHONES


MARCELINE PAYING ATTENTION TO THE SAFETY VIDEO. GOOD GIRL

Another crew member came over with the seat belt extension that Jo would need to use, as she'd be having Marceline on her lap for take-off. She had said she was going to try feeding her as we ascended so hopefully her ears wouldn't pop. It wasn't long before the plane started reversing from the gate, and we began slowly taxiing to the runway. But then we stopped… and for what felt like a lifetime we didn't move. Up until this point Marceline had been absolutely fine. But now… sat on Jo’s lap, strapped in and expected not to move, she started getting a little whiny. The longer we sat there the more whiny Marceline got, and the more anxious Jo got about her making noise. In the end I suggested that she just start feeding Marceline, as no doubt one of the reasons for her sudden change in mood was that she was hungry! She did, and literally a minute or two later the plane began moving again and we were at the end of the runway ready for take-off, then finally we were speeding down the runway and up in the air. The whole time Marceline carried on feeding, and actually fell asleep.


SEE… FAST ASLEEP

As soon as the seatbelt sign was switched off, there was that initial rush for the toilets that always seems to happen! I watched a guy from Upper Class head into the toilet dressed like the Fonz, and when he reappeared a few minutes later he was wearing a skintight t-shirt and some short running shorts. Oh… and no shoes or socks! It was quite the sight!

The cabin crew were meant to bring us the skycot so we could lay Marceline down, but Jo didn't want to disturb her so for the next hour she sat with Marceline asleep in her arms. The only real negative about having the seats we did, was that we were right by the toilets and doorway through to Upper Class, which meant that there was a fair bit of traffic coming and going. This didn't bother us while Marceline was awake, but when she was asleep and we both needed to recharge our batteries a little bit, we were very conscious of her waking up without having a proper nap and feared what she’d be like!


NO SKYCOT, SO WE USED THE AREA AS A TABLE!

When the menus came round both me and Jo looked at them and struggled to find one of the three dishes that sounded even vaguely appealing. We both ended up picking the vegetarian option which was halloumi and vegetables. It's not normally the sort of thing I'd choose, but it seemed like the lesser of three evils. Our plan was that one of us would eat our meal while the other kept Marceline occupied, and then swap. I ate first. I say ate… I picked around at the halloumi pushing things from one side of the tiny bowl to the other. I fished out some of the red pepper and gave it to Marceline to eat. She seemed equally as unimpressed as I was! I looked at the salad and sneered at it. The tiny bottle of balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing was solid as it had obviously been kept refrigerated… so I couldn't even pour it on the lacklustre leaves. I pretty much gave up after a few minutes of trying to eat this dire excuse for a meal. Actually, I did eat the dessert, which turned out to be the best thing on the tray.


AND I THOUGHT MY BREAKFAST WAS BLAND AND TASTELESS!

Cabin crew came and took my tray, so I took Marceline and Jo then attempted to eat. She was considerably kinder than me and said it ‘wasn't that bad’... but that's Jo… always trying to see the good in things when quite clearly it was a steaming pile of plop!

With the food out of the way it was back to keeping Marceline entertained. With all the leg room we had, we were able to let her just crawl around and play at our feet, but she just kept trying to pull out the foldaway tv screens. We had tried using them, but put them away after all she wanted to do was touch the screen and skip ‘Finding Dory’ forward 30 minutes at a time so that the movie was over within three minutes!


NO NEED FOR INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT WHEN YOU CAN WHILE AWAY THE HOURS WATCHING A CHILD CHEW A PLASTIC BOTTLE TOP


YES I'M SURE IT IS FUN MARCELINE, BUT I DON'T WANT TO TRY IT THANKS

Whenever she was standing on our laps, Marceline would take it upon herself to interact with everyone she could see behind us. On several occasions, she was staring intently at the two guys in the row behind, waving at them with a big smile on her face. About six hours into the journey one of them got up to use the toilet and stopped to say “she's absolutely gorgeous, and she's so happy! I keep seeing this smiley face appearing over the top of the headrest and I can't help but wave at her!”


PRACTICING FOR MY ONE MAN RENDITION OF THE LION KING


SANDWICHES THAT WEREN’T VERY NICE… SO WE ATE OUR BOOTS ONES INSTEAD

She was like this the whole flight until just before the seatbelts sign came on. That's when she had her little outburst! It was nothing to do with her being humpy or tired… it was because of some douchebag who had been trying his luck and attempting to chat up a couple of the cabin crew!
“OH YOU SHOULD COME OUT WITH ME… GONNA LAND, GET A CAB TO DROP MY BAGS OFF AT THE HOTEL THEN IT'S ONTO A CLUB. I'VE GOT V.I.P ACCESS IN A CLUB… MY MATE RUNS IT… I’LL SHOW YOU HOW TO DRINK PROPERLY!”
“I'm exhausted, I'm going back to my room to sleep.”
“YOU DON'T WANNA DO THAT, YOU’RE ONLY YOUNG… WHAT ARE YOU… ABOUT 35... I'M MUCH OLDER. I’LL SHOW YOU HOW US OLD ‘UNS DO IT!”
(That’s just a small sample of the drivel he was spouting.) He’d clearly had a few, and was talking like he thought he was the most important man on the plane.

He was told that he really should be getting back to his seat, so necked the drink he was holding and started walking through the galley to go back where he came from (which we think was upstairs in Premium). Marceline was sat on my lap, and as he saw her he stopped dead in his tracks. He was a big guy… about 6’2, quite solid, and looked a bit like James May from Top Gear.
“HELLO,” he bellowed in Marceline’s direction.
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
That was it… she was crying her eyes out and wailing at the top of her lungs. Clearly she didn't like this douchenozzle, and neither did Jo who had done so much eye rolling that they almost fell out of her head!
“OH… SHE DOESN'T LIKE ME!” said Mr Douchenozzle and walked off. At hearing Marceline cry, two of the cabin crew, who’d been making of fuss of her whenever they passed, rushed over. “What did he do to her?” they asked. I told them he’d just said hello but Marceline clearly didn't like him. To which one replied “well she’s a very good judge of character!”

Just as we’d managed to settle her down a male cabin crew member (who we’d not seen all flight) came over and with an open mouth was pointing at my tattoos. He was saying how much he liked them, and how colourful they were. He then asked if I knew anything about laser tattoo removal. I said I knew it hurt about 10 times more than getting the tattoo in the first place, but that was it. He then told me all about the rather ‘raunchy’ tattoo he had at the top of his thigh and close to his giblets(!) and how much laser removal had hurt. He was being very overly dramatic with a lot of hand gestures and loud whispering as if what he was saying was top secret. He then turned to Marceline sat on Jo’s lap and said “do you like you daddy’s silly colourful arms?”

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” she started wailing again without any real reason. There was nothing wrong with this guy at all… but we had started to descend so we figured as our ears were popping, Marceline’s probably were too, plus I don’t think she’d quite got over her last mini meltdown! The female cabin crew ushered the guy away and after saying sorry for bothering her they all took their seats for landing. At this point Marceline went back under her blanket and started to feed again.

As we taxied to the terminal after landing, Marceline was back in good spirits and smiling happily. Because the cabin was half empty, the feeling of needing to rush when the seatbelt sign went off wasn't there. I leisurely put the baby-carrier on, Marceline into the carrier, the backpack on my back, and handed Jo her carry on luggage from the overhead compartment. A split second later, the guy who travelled in short shorts and lycra burst through the curtain separating us from Upper Class, and was itching to get past me and Jo… but there was nowhere to move to. That didn't stop him physically trying to get past us though! As we were stood there I said to the businessmen who’d been sat behind us “she gave you a little burst of what it would've sounded like if she’d been miserable the whole trip!” They both laughed and said they’d happily fly with her again.

A few minutes passed and then we were on the move and heading off of the plane. Admittedly it's been a long while since I’ve felt that wall of heat hit me when getting off the plane, but it almost took my breath away. The sky was bright blue and the sun was shining… we were finally in Florida!

Immigration has all changed since the last time we were in Orlando. First up they make you queue in a line to get your photo taken by a machine which then gives you a receipt that you then hand to someone at immigration proper (after queuing again, of course)!

As we weaved our way back and forth through the first queue, I could hear the douchenozzle from the plane that had made Marceline cry. He was conversing across lines of people with other guys he was either ‘friends’ with, or had met during the flight.
“‘ERE DAN… DON'T LET THEM SEE YOUR PHONE… THEY WON’T LET YOU IN THE COUNTRY WITH ALL THAT STUFF YOU'VE DOWNLOADED ON IT!... I'M GONNA SMASH IT AT THE CLUB TONIGHT, I'M PROPER GETTING ON IT”
It wasn't just Jo that was eye rolling now… it felt like the whole queue was joining in. Even the guys he was talking to were getting embarrassed.

As we snaked through the queue, people were saying hello to Marceline, saying how smiley she was and getting little high-fives from her. It's nice for her to have people interacting with her… but it started to get a little awkward when we’d be standing near the same people again and again just on opposite sides. At one point, there was a bit of movement behind us and some people were ushered out of the line. It wasn't ‘til it was too late that we realised they’d been taken out of the queue as they had crying babies with them. Hold on a second… we've got a child! Just cos ours isn't crying, doesn't mean she’s not knackered and in need of a lay down at the hotel too! This was the first of many occassions that being new parents didn't pay off for us. We've still not got used to speaking up and asking for things/help because we’ve got a toddler with us. We just sort of get on with stuff without any assistance and then realise too late that our lives would've been made a lot easier if we’d put our hands up and made a little fuss. But that's not us… so this moment came and went in the blink of an eye.

Eventually we’re at the front of the queue and faced with a big room with about 10 of these passport-reading, photo-taking machines situated along the back wall. Security staff were gradually calling people in and sending them to stand behind other passengers who were about to finish using their machine. Our time came and we were pointed towards a machine that was about to become free. As we approached, the person on it grabbed their receipt and walked off, but before we could even get there, somebody waiting for the next machine along decided they didn't want to wait anymore for theirs, and jumped on our machine. One of the security team saw what happened and told us to just wait where we were.

A machine just next to her then came free and she pointed us to that one… and as we took a couple of steps towards it, a couple who had already finished in our room and moved on to the next ‘stage’, reappeared through the exit door and were told to use this latest machine we were about to go on. Turns out they’d gone through the process (or so it had seemed) but they'd not been issued the receipt! So in the space of 30 seconds, two machines that we were about to use had been hijacked by other people… so once again we’re stood there in limbo and the staff kind of just shrugged at us. Finally the woman who had initially called us into the room pointed at a machine that had just come free. “You sure you don't want to call someone else from the queue had have them use it before us?” I said to her. She smiled, but didn't respond. Jo said that I probably shouldn't do sarcasm as most Americans didn't get it, and I should especially not do it at Immigration! Fair point.

After that the process only took a couple of minutes (because me and Jo know how to follow instructions and aren’t idiots!) I was then told we’d have to hold Marceline up to the camera and have her photo done too! It only took a couple of attempts to get it spot on, and her picture was taken. I don't get it… why do you have to do that for a baby? Is that standard? What's the likelihood of getting a baby to look the right way at the right time? We could've been there for hours if we hadn't got lucky.

We left this room, walked down the corridor and was then into the Immigration Hall proper. So once again we joined a snaking queue and walked back and forth till we got to the front. In the queue we were chatting to a Scottish couple in line behind us, who were out there with family and friends. Obviously it wasn't us that instigated the conversation, it was all down to Marceline looking cute and waving. After about 15 minutes in this queue we were called forward to one of the desks, and for once the guy who was checking our passports was fairly jovial and chatty. (I'm thinking it was down to the Marceline effect again!)

As we were cleared, an announcement came over the PA system saying that some suitcases had been removed from the carousel and were stood in the corner of the room. I could see one of our cases in that area, so Jo went to grab that and as I waited by the carousel, the remaining three cases came round. By the time Jo returned, I'd pulled all of them off the belt and we were ready to go through the third and final check.

So yet again, we join a queue that's snaking back and forth and leads to to two people who check the blue Customs form you fill in on the plane. But now, the snaking in the queue is proving much more difficult as we’re both dragging/pushing two suitcases! This part actually only takes a couple of minutes though and we’re done… FINALLY!

As we head round the corner, we ignore the second bag drop (like the pros we are) and I drag two suitcases onto the escalator. So I've got one balancing on a step in front of me, Marceline strapped onto my chest, a backpack on my back, and a second suitcase behind me on a lower step! Jo’s behind me doing the ‘front and back’ with the suitcases and with the large hand luggage bag balancing on top of one of the cases. We both manage to get off the escalator without falling over, and walk to a set of doors to wait for the monorail to arrive. At this point we both do a huge sigh of relief. The bit we’d been dreading most (the flight and the crawl through Immigration) was now over and we could start to relax. Sure… we had the journey to the hotel, checking in, finding our room and keeping Marceline entertained the whole time to contend with, but the hardest part was over!


MARCELINE… WE’RE HOME


HAPPY JO

We got on and off the monorail without incident, and as we walked into the main terminal Jo said she wanted to take a picture. This was the best of a bad bunch. But come on... cut me some slack… we’d just got off a 9 hour flight and I’d been up since 5:45am.


DON'T KNOW WHY I'M PULLING THIS FACE OR WHY I'M POINTING. SHOULD'VE JUST SMILED

We got out to the front of the airport and Jo went to the Mears Taxi desk and said we needed a cab with a baby seat. From the point of getting off the plane to the point of stepping foot outside the airport had taken almost exactly one hour. Not bad… but not as good as the time it only took 22 minutes! I don't think we’ll ever beat that!

Luckily there was a cab already waiting which had a baby seat so the driver got it out of the boot for us, but was of literally no use when it came to fitting it. He just put it in the back of his mini van and expected me and Jo to figure it out. This wasn't like any kind of car seat me and Jo had come across in the past, and we kind of bodged it so it felt fairly secure, but then it had two other dangling straps that we had no idea what to do with! We sat either side of Marceline, both grabbed hold of her seat, and the cab pulled away and began it's journey to Saratoga Springs.


NOT THE SAFEST BABY SEAT WE'VE EVER USED

The journey took 20-30 minutes, and for the most part Marceline was quite happy sitting in the seat. Normally, you strap her into her car seat and within minutes she’s asleep. But not today! She got a little ratty towards the end but she was fine as soon as we got her out of the cab. The cost of the cab was about $55 including tip, and for me, getting to the hotel as quickly as we did, it was worth every penny.

We walk into the main reception area and are greeted with “Welcome home!” Ahhh, it sure does feel like we’re home! Jo walks up to one of the CMs behind the desk, and the check-in procedure begins. After our last stay, Jo had requested a room in The Carousel again. But as has happened in the past, they’ve ignored that request, and this time put us in The Grandstand (which ironically is the area we requested on our last stay, when we ended up in The Carousel). Jo turned to me and said “what do you think?” I said I liked The Carousel as it was quiet and we knew our way around the resort from there, so the CM then got on the phone and after a couple of minutes everything was sorted and we had our room in The Carousel. After handing Marceline some Mickey stickers (the first of many she’d collect over the trip), the CM asked if there was anything else we needed. Jo said she didn't think so, but I’d noticed we were missing something quite important… our Magic Bands! With that, the woman rushed (I say rushed... she was, let’s say, elderly… she walked as fast as her legs and age would allow) into the back office and came back with our three MBs. I've said it before and I’ll say it again, compared to how the Americans get their MBs, presenting us with ours wrapped around a crappy piece of card is such an anti-climax! We thanked the woman for all her help and walked out of the lobby.


DISNEY, YOU REALLY DO SPOIL US BRITS WITH YOUR FANCY PRESENTATION OF OUR MAGIC BANDS!

Seeing as how we’d been sitting on the plane for such a long time, we thought it would be nice to walk to our room. About halfway through the walk (which is really only 5-10 minutes) we regretted it as the paths we were dragging the suitcases on weren't as flat as we remembered. As we walked past one family they said we should’ve got Bell Services to help us, but I replied that we’d spent so long on a plane that we just needed to stretch our legs and get some fresh air. A few minutes later we passed another family and the exact same conversation ensued!

We arrived at The Carousel and got the elevator up to the fourth floor. And after a right and a couple of lefts we were at the front door. A quick swipe of the MB and we were in. Crikey… this looked a lot different to the last room we had at Saratoga Springs. Much more spacious with rooms off of rooms. What the what?!


SEE… I TOLD YOU IT BECAME A THING


FRONT ROOM & KITCHEN AREA (OBVIOUSLY)


IT MIGHT NOT LOOK IT BUT THIS BED WAS HUGE! BIGGER THAN OUT SUPER KINGSIZE AT HOME

“Did they change our room?” I asked Jo. At this point an impish grin spread across her face.
“No, I did. I did something naughty… I upgraded to a One-Bedroom Villa instead of a Studio.” Oooooh the cheeky little minx! She’d kept this secret from me… and it was a great surprise! It turns out she’d been thinking about it for a while, and asked about the cost and availability when she called Disney a few months back to request a certain building number. Apparently it was a bargain, so she bit the bullet! In the next 15 days we’d really come to appreciate having that separate bedroom/living room space!


THIS IS GOOD FOR ME AND MUMMY… SO WHERE YOU SLEEPING DADDY?


ON SECOND THOUGHT, I’LL SLEEP HERE ON MY OWN, YOU AND MUMMY GET THE SOFA BED


DIDN'T TAKE US LONG TO HAVE IT LOOKING LIKE ABSOLUTE TIP!

We were feeling hungry at this point so it was time for something from Artist’s Palette. We got the buggy out of the suitcase, strapped Marceline in and headed back over to the main building… within a couple of minutes Marceline was sound asleep. It had been 15 months since we were last at AP… and it seemed as if the menu was still the same… which I was not happy about! It's not necessarily a terrible menu, but it's all pretty uninspiring. It takes at least three rotations of the options on the screens before I decided to have some sort of Italian toasted sandwich, while Jo opted for a Buffalo Chicken toasted sandwich.


WIDE AWAKE AND READY TO SEE THE RESORT


2 MINUTES LATER… FAST ASLEEP


PROBABLY THE BEST THING I ATE TODAY, BUT THAT'S NOT SAYING MUCH!


JO’S WASN'T MUCH BETTER. HER VERDICT... IT WAS OK.

We get our mugs (Jo does a double take when I say I want the neon pink handled one) and then fill them up with citrus iced tea for me and ‘full fat’ Coke for Jo. A (very expensive) loaf of bread, butter, some bottled water and a couple of fruit cups are grabbed for the room and we start to head back. On the way back, Marceline wakes up and pretty much as soon as we get in the room we pop her into her pyjamas, Jo feeds her and she falls back to sleep easily. Luckily we’d already set up the travel cot before we went over to AP, so she went in there next to our bed.


READY FOR MILK AND THEN BED


FULL OF MILK AND FAST ASLEEP AFTER AN EXTREMELY LONG DAY.

Straight away, the benefit of having that separate room is clear. While Marceline is asleep in the other room, we’re able to eat our dinner, plan the following day and unpack most of Marceline's clothes in the ‘living room’. I'm useless with Marceline's clothes. I can't tell the difference between her leggings and her pyjama bottoms! Jo tells me to just leave it to her, so I do a quick voice memo recalling everything that's happened since arriving at the hotel. We both get our clothes ready for the following day and slump down on the sofa. It's now 10:20pm and we’re exhausted. 20 minutes later we’re quietly creeping into the bedroom and sliding into bed. As you can probably guess, it's only a matter of minutes before we’re both fast asleep and our travel day is over.

If you're still here… well done! I know this was a lengthy travel day (nothing new there for me!) but I was trying to emphasise the differences me and Jo faced compared to our previous trips. The thing that stands out to me more than anything is how amazingly well Marceline handled the day. I know adults who don't cope with travel days as well as she did! The length of the day, flying for the first time, being cooped up for over nine and a half hours… she was a trooper… and if she had been old enough to ‘want’ things I would've told her she could've had whatever she wanted for being so good.

One thing we realised when we got to our room was that the ‘vlog’ I'd thought about doing this trip was most definitely NOT going to happen. For as good as Marceline was, she still needs constant supervision and it was going to take the two of us being ‘on’ pretty much the whole trip. I also didn't want to feel like I was living our first holiday as a family through a lens. I wanted to be in the moment. I still like the idea of doing a holiday vlog though… so maybe I'll revisit one day.

So that’s it for the first day of our fourth TR. Thank you for reading... I hope you've enjoyed the start of what was a very different Florida holiday from those Jo and I are used to, but one that we loved just as much as any previous trip. I hope you'll come back for tomorrow’s report, where we have some good food, some rubbish food, and experience the new Disney Springs for the first time.

And remember… I love you byeeeeeeeeee xxx
Hashtagdadc

P.S. Sorry for the amount of time it's taken to get this up... at the point of posting this I've actually written 7 days’ reports already. The difficult part is finding time to edit and go through the thousands of photos we took to pick the best ones that add to the story I'm telling. The plan going forward is to post one day per week, as we’ve done before… but as Jo’s going back to work following her Maternity Leave soon, that timeframe may be optimistic!

[charandcubby]

ah I've been waiting for this report😀 whoop whoop, great read

[Buffton]

Ah what a brilliant read! Brilliant travel day, Marceline was fab. Looking forward to reading all about how the parks will be different for you with her being there for new experiences! My best friend flew over yesterday with their 4 year old and 6 month old and their tiny one had a good flight too. The one bedroom villa looks amazing, fab surprise from Jo! Loved Marceline's little hoody-fab present! Huge thanks as always for writing up such a detailed report. Hope you're all enjoying the long weekend together. Lizzie x

[Lizzim]

Oh my god...you've finally started! Such a great travel day, Marceline coped soooo well. Can't wait for the next day... but I suppose we'll have to!

[jcourt39]

Excellent start! We took our boy for the fist time last summer at 2y8m and yes, we had to forget everything we knew and start afresh...at times it was very very tricky but boy did we have a different kind of fun and he still remembers plenty 8 months later!

Marceline is just beautiful, can't wait to read more.
Rachael x x x

[ely3857]

I remember our first trip with kids (then 20months and 3yrs old) and the pre-holiday nerves. I was a total wreck the ten days leading up to it, had an epic meltdown 48hrs in advance and then just as you guys did, calmed down and went with the flow!

Well done Marceline, you little star!

The extra space is fantastic, even at OKW we appreciated the kitchenette and slightly bigger room over POFQ when they were tiny.

[Zomax25]

A really good travel day with a baby! We had a similar fun go with an 11 month old and the photos at MCO. She was asleep in the carrier on my back! I had to stand on my toes and try my best. Very silly.

We have always been lucky with flying and little ones being fine however I live in fear for an 8 hour screamathon. Well done to Marceline for staying cheerful (and you and Jo too!).

[nanasamboy]

awww! I love Marceline's Happy Haunt babygrow!

I'm so relieved for you, that you had a good flight. We imagined Alice's first flight would be awful and she was fab!

We had one of those enormous beds last time at OKW. One night I was cold and tried to roll over to cuddle up to G and kept rolling and rolling and never found him, so had to give up. Stupid giant bed haha.

Thanks for sharing, can't wait to read the rest

[Jedi Princess]

What a fab read. Love Marceline's hoodie and baby gro. Great travel day, apart from the idiot passenger. Looking forward to reading more.

Thanks for posting.

[slow.jo]

I am so excited to read about your trip! hashtaghardingfangirl

I love your smiley little baby so much, she is amazing. And what a brilliant judge of character (douchenozzle / men talking about their giblets)

I hope Jo does make sure she has a cocktail with every meal including breakfast next trip. Make me proud Legs.

I didn’t know there was a Grain Store at Gatwick, I usually like it there. I’ll avoid that one though from your review!

I love how good Marceline was on the flight, she is a legend. And I love how into the safety video she was Isabella practised the brace position on our last flight

That plane meal looked rank. It wasn’t a good food day for you.

I went all goosey reading what you wrote about the wall of heat I miss Florida.

So lovely to be ‘home’. I just love Saratoga Springs. And a lovely room

As always, thanks for sharing Hardings, love you lots

Nips xxxx