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Old 24 Oct 19, 07:36 PM  
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Lisa_Lollipop
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Charlie's First WDW Adventure - Sep/Oct 2019 - Pre-Travel Day

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Friday 27th September

So after a year of waiting the big day was finally here… pre-travel day! Whilst I was totally ready to click into holiday mode as soon as I woke up that morning, sadly I had to endure a morning of work first! I was so pleased I had made the decision a few weeks previously to book the afternoon off though as time actually flew as I spent the morning wrapping up a last few things and handing over all the necessary stuff that needed to be covered whilst I was away. By 1pm my out of office was on! (Is there a better feeling?!) Unfortunately both Charlie and I had been battling colds in the days previously so we were both on regular doses of paracetamol and Calpol but I was keeping optimistic that we were over the worst and that the Floridian sunshine would be the perfect remedy (I had taken Charlie to the doctors the day before in fear he had an ear infection but thankfully my concerns were unfounded. The doctor did prescribe antibiotics to take with us in case he went downhill whilst we were away but thankfully they were never needed!).

At around 1pm my Mum arrived. I had booked a 1:30pm appointment to have my nails done and she had kindly offered to sit with Charlie whilst I popped out. This was quite a novelty for me as I never get my nails done, this was the first time I have ever been to a nail salon! It was lovely sitting there and having a little pamper and I absolutely loved the bright pink colour I chose, so summery! I have a feeling this may become a more regular thing now!



On arriving back home I found a very sleepy Charlie, despite my Mum’s best efforts he had refused to sleep (clearly the holiday excitement was kicking in all round!). After waving my Mum off I took him upstairs and managed to finally get him down for a sleep at about 3pm. This is later than we would ordinarily let him nap but knowing it was going to be a later night than normal for him I was relieved he was getting to recharge his batteries before the first leg of our long journey began!



Charlie was down for about an hour and then at 4:15pm Joan and John arrived. We had planned for the taxi to collect us all from our house so they could leave their car on our drive whilst we were away. On them arriving I quickly ducked out to pick up Paul from the station as he too had been working that day. On arriving back from the station it was a last minute rush of running around getting the last things packed, suitcases closed and locked, giving Charlie a quick dinner, ensuring electrical appliances were turned off, double-checking all windows were shut (I’m starting to understand why you have a spreadsheet for this Helen, it’s quite a task ensuring everything is ticked off the list!)

As booked, our car to take us to the airport arrived at 5:30pm (at this point I was still running around like a crazy women double-checking I had everything and getting Charlie changed and ready to go so I left Paul to help load everything into the car!). By just before 6pm everything was loaded up so we locked up the house and set about getting everyone in the car so we could get going. A simple task you would think. Simple until your toddler decides to have an almighty meltdown! I’m not sure if it was the confusion of a strange car, the fact we were using our second car seat that he isn’t very familiar with or just the fall-out of feeling under the weather but he was not a happy bunny. Eventually we managed to persuade him into his seat with a little help of Peppa Pig on Paul’s phone (this shows our desperation to get away as we never give Charlie our phones to watch things on… but hey, needs must!)



With everyone strapped in and enjoying the soundtrack of Peppa Pig we were on our way… Gatwick here we come! Thankfully it was a lovely smooth journey around the M25 and we arrived at the north terminal by 7:30pm. After unloading our mountain of luggage we waved our lovely driver goodbye. The first task was to assemble the car seat box so we could package it up ready to be checked in. I was firm when planning this trip that I wanted to take our own car seat given my anxiety over hiring a seat that we wouldn’t know the history of. Charlie is also still rear-facing and I didn’t want to risk only being able to get a seat that was forward facing. Taking our own seat was absolutely the best option. On putting the seat in the box we then padded it out with towels and nappies (super handy as this meant these weren’t taking up precious space in our suitcases!).



With the car sear sorted it was into the terminal to take advantage of Virgin’s twilight check-in. This is something we have done on all our previous Orlando trips and find it works brilliantly as it allows you to get rid of all your large check-in cases and have your boarding card ready to go so you can head straight to security the following morning. The only slight change this trip was that as we wanted to keep the pushchair on us right up until boarding the plane we would have to stop by a Virgin desk in the morning to get it tagged (they are unable to tag luggage that you are taking back away with you) but the lovely lady at the desk ensured me it would be fine to stop by an upper class desk to avoid having to queue to do this.





By 8pm we were freed of all the large suitcases and boarding passes in hand we were all set. Time now to head across the road to the Premier Inn to get checked in there. This was the first time we had flown from the north terminal (on previous trips Virgin had flown from the south terminal) but had used the north terminal Premier Inn on all previous trips, it’s become quite a tradition to stay here before flying!

By 8:20pm we were in the foyer waiting for a lift to get us up to reception (whilst we love the convenience and the great price of this hotel it has to be said that their lifts are a nightmare! I am sure anyone who has stayed there will understand my frustrations, it’s the same every time!).

On finally making it up to reception I quickly stopped by one of the self-service machines and got our key cards generated (I had already checked us in online so it was a quick and smooth process). Whilst I did this Paul wandered over to the onsite Thyme restaurant to see if he could get us a table for dinner. There wouldn’t be one available until 9pm so we decided to head up and drop all our bags off in our rooms and then head back down to grab some dinner (feeling relieved Charlie had that late nap, he was still full of beans at this point!).

We were only on the second floor but due to having the pushchair we had to once again endure the wait for a lift (sigh) but soon enough we had made it up to our rooms and then back down again to wait for our table. Whilst waiting Charlie enjoyed playing with the foam floor puzzles.





At 9pm we headed over to the entrance of the restaurant and were pleased to find out our table was ready. The lovely lady who sat us sorted a high chair for Charlie and give him some colouring.



I haven’t gotten off to a very good start here as I don’t have one photo of the food we had! (To be honest I should probably add a disclaimer here that notes are a little more vague on this trip than previously, it’s much harder to keep them up to date when running around after a toddler!). I did jot down that I ordered the BBQ and bacon chicken and also a glass of wine, although due to my damn cold I couldn’t taste any of it! Despite it being late we still ordered Charlie some pasta off the kid’s menu (his absolute favourite thing to eat) and he devoured it! He was such a good boy sitting at the table whilst we ate and with the help of his travel puzzles and Peppa Pig books we were able to keep him happily entertained whilst we finished up our food.



At 10pm I decided it would be good to get Charlie to bed, we had a long day ahead of us! After a quick couple of photos to mark the start of our trip, we made our way back up to the room leaving Paul, Joan and John behind to finish up their drinks.





On making it back up to the room I got Charlie ready for bed and by 10:20pm he was sound asleep. I was so excited thinking of all the adventures he had ahead of him, sleeping soundly he was completely oblivious of all the amazing things that he was so soon to experience!



Paul came back to the room at 11:20pm with a caramel latte for me, a little late to be drinking coffee granted but hey, it was holiday time so normal rules do not apply!



We pottered around getting ourselves ready for bed but must have been making a little too much noise as at 11:45 Charlie had a brief wake up. Luckily after a little cuddle from Daddy he was sound asleep again.



I eventually made it into bed at 11:55pm and was asleep pretty soon after!

So that brings us to the end of pre-travel day. I apologise for the lack of photos, this day truly passed by in a blurry whirlwind of activity! I can assure you all on following days you will be inundated with photos! Join me for the next instalment which sees us travelling from Gatwick to Orlando!

Travel day can be found here

Edited at 04:16 PM.
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Old 24 Oct 19, 08:06 PM  
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Redrach1903
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Eeeeep I can feel the excitement!

Love your nails! I never do my own nails now, feel you may be the same! Haha!

Gutted you couldn’t taste your wine! Sad face!

Charlie sprawled out in the hotel cot totally reminds me of Emma’s pics of Abi the night before they flew out to join us! Too cute!

Can’t wait to read about your travel day! #chopchop

Xxx
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Old 24 Oct 19, 08:34 PM  
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Yayyyyyy soooo excited to read this! Gutted Rach beat me to first comment 🤣

This sounds like such a busy but in a way that’s totally normal for pre travel day. We don’t even stay overnight before but that day is always a mad rush!

I need a copy of Helens going away spreadsheet... can you hook me up

Love the nails. Glad you treated yourself. Also that Charlie was ok - ace dr giving you a prescription “just in case”.

I am AMAZED at how Charlie copes so well at being up till 10pm. My Charlie would literally be a sobbing mess on the floor... bodes well for next year lol.

What a fab boy he was and your comment about the excitement for everything that lay ahead truly struck a chord.

So... when will travel day be up 😁
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Old 24 Oct 19, 09:05 PM  
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Totally get what you mean about the lifts In the hotel.

Looking forward to reading along.

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Old 25 Oct 19, 08:05 AM  
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Such a good boy, and looking completely angelic. I look forward to reading about Charlie's adventures!
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Old 25 Oct 19, 11:35 AM  
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margyloveswdw
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Sounds like a busy day but so worth it as it the morning the big adventure begins! Charlie is adorable

Looking forward to reading more.
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Old 26 Oct 19, 09:45 PM  
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Can’t believe I missed this!

I always picture pre travel days to be so relaxing but they never turn out that way do they?!

Looking forward to reading more.
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Old 27 Oct 19, 06:50 AM  
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Charlie first Florida trip- so exciting! Looking forward to reading along😊
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Old 27 Oct 19, 05:11 PM  
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Looking forward to reading along!
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Old 28 Oct 19, 12:07 AM  
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Lisa_Lollipop
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Originally Posted by Redrach1903 View Post
Eeeeep I can feel the excitement!

Love your nails! I never do my own nails now, feel you may be the same! Haha!

Gutted you couldn’t taste your wine! Sad face!

Charlie sprawled out in the hotel cot totally reminds me of Emma’s pics of Abi the night before they flew out to join us! Too cute!

Can’t wait to read about your travel day! #chopchop

Xxx
Haha he was literally as long as the travel cot! I'm not sure how he managed to sleep so soundly in there, clearly takes after me and can sleep anywhere!

Will get cracking with travel day soon I promise!

Originally Posted by sheluk View Post
Yayyyyyy soooo excited to read this! Gutted Rach beat me to first comment 🤣

This sounds like such a busy but in a way that’s totally normal for pre travel day. We don’t even stay overnight before but that day is always a mad rush!

I need a copy of Helens going away spreadsheet... can you hook me up

Love the nails. Glad you treated yourself. Also that Charlie was ok - ace dr giving you a prescription “just in case”.

I am AMAZED at how Charlie copes so well at being up till 10pm. My Charlie would literally be a sobbing mess on the floor... bodes well for next year lol.

What a fab boy he was and your comment about the excitement for everything that lay ahead truly struck a chord.

So... when will travel day be up 😁
Haha Helen is the queen of locking down the house ready for holiday... she needs to teach us all!

Charlie definitely takes after his Daddy and is a complete night owl! Which did come in handy on this trip I have to say, but totally the opposite of me as I am totally an early bird!

Travel day coming soon I promise!

Originally Posted by Gwilspeed View Post
Totally get what you mean about the lifts In the hotel.

Looking forward to reading along.

Those lifts... happy to hear you share my frustrations!

Originally Posted by Rabel View Post
Such a good boy, and looking completely angelic. I look forward to reading about Charlie's adventures!
Haha don't let that angelic little face fool you, he can be quite the little devil when he wants to be! Luckily being so cute means he gets away with it!
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