The Pram Fund Trip Sep 2015 - Travel Day

[2littleboys]

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Travel Day
I have decided to combine my pre-travel and travel day as pre-travel day was quite uneventful.

I took boys to school and then did all the usual stuff, hair done, collected dollars etc. I then picked the boys up from school at lunchtime as Barry was finishing work early and got home around 1pm, we all got ready loaded up the car and set off for Glasgow around 3pm, we stopped at Silverburn shopping centre for a bite to eat as we pass it on the way to Glasgow Airport anyway, we had dinner at the Cosmo Buffet, it was a good enough meal however we were first in and we the food was all fresh, I have now heard awful reports about dried up cold food so not sure if I would visit again in a hurry.

We then headed over to the Normandy Hotel which only took us around 15 minutes, we checked in and left our car keys with reception, I have stayed in this hotel before (however this was on my hen night…. so think 30 ladies, Dirty Dancing Tribute, blow up dolls and large quantities of wine) and I have to admit I bigged up the hotel on here before, but now I don’t know if I would use it again. I think I saw it in a wine filled haze on my last visit because I wasn't too happy this time, when we got into our room it was very very basic and not the cleanest there was a massive cobweb hanging from the ceiling, how a cleaner missed it I will never know. But anyway it did the job as it was only to put our heads down for 1 night. On the plus side when we arrived in our room there was a lovely bottle of wine and 2 fruit shoots that my sister in law had called up to arrange to be put in our room! Lovely gesture and the wine was opened immediately, we then headed downstairs and spent some time in the bar playing Uno with the boys and we headed to bed at 11pm with the alarm set for 5am!


After quite a restless sleep I eventually woke without the alarm at 4:50, I showered and got ready before I woke the boys at 5:15, they were very sleepy but I was quite glad of this as I hoped they would sleep on the plane.

Once we were all ready we headed downstairs for breakfast and we were the only people in the dining hall, the boys both had some cereal and orange juice however my stomach was churning, I hadn’t actually been feeling too good in the lead up to the holiday but I now know it was just my nerves working overtime so I didn’t manage anything to eat this morning, just had some tea, Barry at his best had a full Scottish breakfast, including haggis… bleugh!

We left hotel by shuttle bus at 7:20 and the journey only took 10 minutes, we were dropped off at the bottom of the terminal building and Thomas Cook check in was right at the other end at Terminal 2 which is a fair walk, we trecked up there to be greeted with massive check in queues, we decided to pay £20 for priority boarding (you only pay for the adults and not the kids) so we were checked in and through security quite quickly.

We headed through the duty free and I bought myself some new perfume, Paco Rabanne Olympea which I think was £40 for the 50ml and also some Benefit Mascara which came in a set with remover and a gel eyeliner and was only £16. We stopped off at WH Smith for some water and books, I had uploaded my kindle with some new books but the only time Barry reads a book is when we are on holiday so he got himself the Krays book, he only likes autobiographies or non-fiction, Mason also bought himself the new Captain Underpants book… I believe it is called Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-a-Lot? Utter garbage but it kept Mason interested for some of the flight!

We stopped at the Beardmore Bar as I wanted a wine, (believe me the holiday did not continue in the large consumption of wine this was purely medicinal purposes as I am very nervous), Barry had a beer and the boys had a juice, we then done the obligatory check in on Facebook to remind our friends that we were on holiday, just incase they had forgot . By this time Lewis was starting to get really grumpy, I know he was just tired though, he wanted to open his packed lunch I had made him for the plane, I just let him to keep the peace and he sat quite happily munching away, we then had a read at the newspapers and before we knew it, it was time for boarding.

We got settled in row 33, we had pre-booked our seats and chose 4 seats in the middle, we were happy with the leg room and Barry is really tall at 6ft 4inches – we took off at 10:50 so only 5 minutes late and the captain announced that the flight would take 9 hours 9 minutes. Lewis had fell asleep before we even took off so that was an added bonus.
We paid £4 each and upgraded to the premium film selection, Lewis only slept for around 40 minutes! So when he woke both boys watched Spongebob Out Of the Water, I had actually taken them to the cinema to see this, they loved it however that is 2 hours of my life I will never get back again!

Barry and I watched American Sniper however I really struggled to concentrate, I hadn't bought my own earphones and bought TC's own which made it really difficult to hear, so I gave up and ended up reading and done some of my adult colouring in book, this really helped me relax a bit as I am quite a nervous flyer. We had a family in front of us that were from a village not far from us and we had been chatting with them throughout the flight too.

Eventually the food was served, boys had kid’s meal which was pasta and meatballs, I had Bangers and Mash and Barry had the Malaysian Chicken Rendang, we found it tasty enough, this was served with a bread roll, crackers and cheese and a Millionaire Shortcake Chocolate Dessert which was yummy! Later in the flight we were given a small cornetto and then approx 90 minutes before landing we were served afternoon tea, which consisted of 2 small sandwiches one with cheese and the other with egg and cress, plus a small scone with clotted cream. All in all we were happy with the offerings from Thomas Cook and wouldn’t hesitate to fly with them again. Both the boys also managed a good 2 hour sleep later into the flight I hoped that would help adjusting them to the time difference

We landed at 3pm local time and arrived into a very busy immigration hall, the officer we had was friendly enough and Lewis was fascinated with the fingerprints and photo procedure. We then collected our luggage and this is the part I had been dreading, to second bag drop or not? I may get shot down in flames here but the stairs/escalators were not as bad as I thought they were going to be, we just took the stairs and managed no problem, with 2 kids, 4 cases and a stroller! We then made our way to the Magical Express check in, and this is where we encountered our longest wait, we waited ages in a short queue of approx. 8 people before boarding the bus and I hate to admit I was slightly disappointed that it was Mears Coach, it got us to our destination though and that’s all that matters I suppose. Once on the bus we then waited ages for other passengers before setting off, first drop off was OKW and then we were next at Saratoga Springs and arrived at 6pm.

We were checked in pretty quickly and bell services took us to our room along with our Garden Grocer delivery which was there when we checked in (another service I would highly recommend). Our room was in Grandstand 8812, I was really happy with that as I had done a bit of research and had requested Grandstand. Bell services brought our luggage to our room and unfortunately we only had $50’s or 1x $5 dollar bill as we had already given the bus driver a tip – Barry gave the Bell Services guy the $5 dollars – to which he responded in the most sarcastic way ever “Oh Gee … Thanks” and rolled his eyes! I have to admit this made me quite worried, I can be quite an anxious person but I tried to push it to the back of my mind, we are in now way tight with money but I thought that was sufficient? We unpacked and the boys announced they were hungry so we wandered up to the Artist Palette to activate our mugs and get a bite to eat.

Once outside again, we realised that we were in a perfect area, our building was right at the Grandstand pool and we were literally a 2-3 minute walk to the Carriage House, Artist Palette and High Rock Pool. We went to the Artist Palette and ordered food and I have to admit this is where I really started to feel really overwhelmed, nobody explained the dining plan to us, we were totally lost as you order at one till point, collect your drink and desserts from another point and then pay at another till point. I now realise it is quite easy once you know what you are doing however the tiredness of the travel day really got to me, we ended up snapping at each other and all I wanted to do was go and lie down. Anyhow the boys had their food, I didn’t eat as I wasn’t hungry, Barry had the cheeseburger flatbread, boys both had Chicken Nuggets which they both said was the best ever, so fine praise indeed. Im afraid I wasnt always the best at food photos folks, so apologies in advance. We sat outside in the warm evening air whilst they ate and it was so good to feel the heat.

We then headed back to the room and were all in bed for 8:30, hats off to anyone who manages to go to parks on their travel day, I felt completely exhausted and a little overwhelmed and went to sleep with a slight feeling of dread in my tummy, but that all changed as we had all just needed a good nights sleep

Tomorrow – Crystal Palace Breakfast and Magic Kingdom.

[Pussycat Doll]

Good travel day and well behaved kids makes it a lot easier! I would have taken the $5 back off the bellhop and reported him, cheeky beggar! It's amazing what some sleep can do for you! Pussycat

[Lola]

We stayed in that block at the Grandstand twice. I do think it's the best location

[Aearin]

$5 is a good tip for a bellhop right!? Cheeky sod

[collybird]

It amazes me that anyone has the energy to go to the park on the first day. I'm ready for bed as soon as we arrive!

[2littleboys]

Thanks for all your replies folks, and helping put my mind at rest I had wondered if we had been tightfisted, will know in future xx

[Cinderella]

Yeah you have arrived

[shirley]

How much was he expecting? I would have been fuming xx

[secretivemum]

All in all a really good travel day... well done you! Thanks for sharing

[toots82]

really enjoyed this, we are staying at SSR for our first time in Oct and have requested Grandstand near the pool... fingers crossed.

That guy was out of order being so rude, we had to force them to take a tip at BLT. $5 is plenty IMO.

Looking forward to reading along