The 'Don't panic - we've got this' Day 1 - Travel Day

[Dancat]

Index is here!

Travel Day!
It is here! Finally! I was awake at 3.30am – a mixture of nerves and excitement. I made use of the hour by having a coffee in peace. I had checked and checked again all of the packing last night so just did the usual ‘Passports, tickets, money’ check every ten minutes. I attempted to wake the kids up at 4.30am – I eventually succeeded at 5.00am. As I had predicted, no-one wanted to eat anything – so I gave very strict instructions that we would be leaving at 6am – ready or not. I had done a check of the kids bags after they had gone to sleep last night to avoid any last minute panic about ipads, chargers etc. I had also put a lock on their backpacks so that I knew they couldn’t remove anything and then leave it behind. I am fully aware of how strict this sounds but believe me, it is absolutely necessary. We were all in the car and ready to go at 5.55am.

I surprised myself! We had an easy 40 minute drive to the airport and found the Meet and Greet. I have never used this before and was hugely impressed. We were parked up and in the terminal within 5 minutes of arriving. That simple.

I had done OLCI yesterday so just found bag drop – I asked I there were any seats together but was told that there weren’t any – but the kids didn’t seem phased by this so I wasn’t worried. Bag drop was simple and we were through security quite quickly – apart from Maisie’s hoody that she put on the conveyor belt that kept setting off alarms. No idea why. It was fully inspected by a few people but they decided it wasn’t a hazard to society and gave it us back.
We got a table at Frankie and Benny’s quickly despite it being really busy,. Olly went for the English Breakfast, Maisie went for pancakes and I opted or the fruit and yoghurt thing – cant remember what it was called but it was light and yummy. We all had fruit juice of various varieties. We were served quickly and really enjoyed the food.

We had a look around the airport and got some sandwiches and magazines for the journey. I also got some (more) paracetamol and ibuprofen. Just in case. My holiday medicine provision can medicate a small country. Funny really as I was never a girl guide but I am always prepared for every medical eventuality. Maisie then decided to play the walk up piano – play a tune and get free breakfast – so she knocked out a number and she opted for a bottle of water rather than a breakfast as we’d obviously already eaten. She could have done this earlier and saved me a few quid.

We then spent an hour people and plane watching, and then just as I was starting to question my plan of being at the airport so early, we started to board. We were all starting to flag a bit at this point so was really looking forward to having a sit down. I took some nurofen as I was still a bit concerned about my blocked ear. I also used boots version of Earplanes for me and the kids. I cant say if these worked or not as I didn’t have anything to compare them to but none of us suffered with our ears so I would definitely use them again. Our plane was Mademoiselle Rouge and the flight was pretty uneventful.

The only people who seemed to recline their seats were the ones in front of me and the kids. The food was OK. I had ordered the children’s meal for Maisie but she wasn’t overly impressed. The wraps that came around later on were the same as the adult ones and were full of some sort of pesto which wasn’t the most appetising. Good job we’d brought our own sandwiches.

When it was time to land, I had almost forgotten that we had to change planes at Atlanta. .There were lots of people transferring to MCO so we all headed straight or immigration. It seemed really quiet when we got there, but then people started arriving through lots of different door and it seemed really chaotic. Add to that the fact that they decided to shut half of the desks and our hopes of making our connecting flight were dwindling. By the time we had got to the front of the queue we had about 15 minutes to get the next flight. But then the man at the desk decided to call over someone in front of us. I would have rolled my eyes and tutted if it wasn’t for the extremely savage lady who was acting as bouncer in our queue. So I stood there with a fixed smile whilst inside I had a little tantrum. And then the people in front were done. Yes. Our turn. 10 minutes and counting. And what does he do? He leaves the desk. He just goes. At this point my eyes are about to pop out of my head and I am trying ever so hard to be calm and not panic because the kids were starting to get a bit anxious. Thankfully I spot the chap going into the toilet and I am silently praying to the toilet Gods that it’s just a number one that he needs. Whether it be a number one or two, he reappeared very quickly and I was so pleased to see him I didn’t even mind that he may not have washed his hands. He did his thing and stamped our passports and we were off – the next few minutes were a bit of a blur. I remember seeing out cases in the baggage claim area – they weren’t on the belt, just propped up at the side but I am assuming that is because we had been so long. Then I remember giving them to someone who seemed to know what they were doing at the transfer it. Then I think we went though security. A small bottle of hand sanitizer caused a bit of a delay, as did the small bottle of water Maisie had forgotten that she had put in her bag (knew I should have kept those padlocks on). Then we ran for the ‘Plane Train’ to take us to our connecting terminal. I remember running with the kids to the gate and the man saying ‘hurry ma’am’ and then feeling relief when we stepped on the plane. Then panic that I had forgotten something. Then relief that we were on the plane. Then panic when I realised me and the kids were separated all over the place. The hostess was rushing us to be seated, Maisie was crying, Olly was asking if we had got everything , the hostess was telling us to sit down and put our seatbelts on. Drama. And if I am honest, I think I probably just did that – sat down and put on my seatbelt. I could just see Maisie if I dislocated my neck and shoulder and did that thing with my eyes that said ‘it will be OK, I’ll be over in a minute’. I shouted to Olly to see if he was OK – he said he was. And then we were up in the air. I got up as soon as I could and made sure the kids were OK – they were fine. Olly wasn’t phased at all and Maisie was OK once I set her up on the IFE . I would have enjoyed the hour down to MCO if it wasn’t for the chap next to me who was sweating profusely and holding a sick bag open on his lap. The last thing I wanted was to be covered in sick at this point. Thankfully he didn’t vom . As we were landing he made a dash for the toilet but the hostess made him sit back down. We made eye contact. I did that thing with my eyes that said ‘if he is sick over me I wont be happy’. She responded with a look that said ‘whatever’.
We landed and we were off. We didn’t have the whole immigration thing going on here as we’d obviously already done it at Atlanta so this was pain free. Straight to baggage claim. The kids cases came off quite quickly then we spent some time waiting for mine. I told the kids that my suitcase was always one of the last. Then I found myself saying, ‘it will be here in a minute’ and then the baggage claim area seemed very quiet and the belt was very empty and you know that feeling where you hope your case will appear but you know that it isn’t going to. Yes, that. It never appeared. I asked someone who looked official if there were any more bags to come and he told me rather happily, ‘nope, they’re all off’. Brilliant. Now I had been uber organised and had cross packed all the suitcases but even so, this is something I could have really done without. Olly asked ‘what do we do now?’ and I sat there on the baggage claim hall floor and knew I had to make it look like I knew what I was doing but at this point, I was failing to find something to say. So I did what any normal self respecting person would do - I took a selfie.

Realising that this wasnt going to help the situation, looked around and saw a Delta helpdesk type place. I went in and explained what had happened and the lady at the desk told me, before I had even finished telling her the story, that my case was on the next flight – and at this point, the next flight was due in about 20 minutes so I decided I would wait. We did wait. And finally, the lost luggage gods repayed my patience by sending my case out first. That was it. The final thing – I do believe we did a little dance and let out a ‘whoop’. Then we set off to get the Magical Express. Except it wasn’t actually the Magical Express but, it was the Disney Cruise Line one, but at this point, they could have sent a horse and cart and I would have been happy.


It hardly took any time at all to get to OKW as we were the first stop. The CMS were amazing. There were balloons and stickers for the kids, celebration, birthday and 1st visit badges for everyone, a printout of our plans and Magic Bands.

I felt like we had received a huge virtual hug.
I was fully aware at this point that the kids were hungry so I left our cases at bell services and went to Goods to Go for some food. We used a QS credit for a hotdog/fries, pretzel and brownie. We used our refillable mugs for drinks. I didnt take a picture of the food - I think it was inhaled.

We went back to bell services and they took us in one of those little golf buggy carts to our room. We were in Building 28, Penninsular Road.

This was perfect for us – close to Hospitality House and the main pool and on the second floor

. There was also but stop right outside but the CM told is that this was the first pick up on the resort so if we got this one, we’d have to travel all around and it would be better to get off at this one and when going out, walk another 2 minutes to the main stop and get a but from the main stop. Our room was amazing and so big! I didn’t take any pictures when we arrived which I should have done really as it soon became a bit messy so these ones are ones that we took before we left. The facilities were excellent too - a fridge, toaster, microwave, coffee machine, plates, cutlery etc. I was really impressed, it felt really luxurious. We had a lovely little balcony too

We literally just got on our PJs and hopped into bed. I made sure everything was charged for the morning. I had packed a gangway socket which had 4 sockets and two USB points – a Dibb recommendation – best idea ever. We were all in bed for 10.20pm and set the alarm for 6.00am ready for our 8.05 ADR at Crystal Palace.

Day 2 Here

[Sweets]

What a day! You held it together so much better than I ever would
Looking forward to reading more.

[tearling]

I can sympathise with your sprint through Atlanta to catch your plane as we did exactly the same! (But missed it, so not quite the same)
Looking forward to reading your first day!

[Floridaagogo]

What an eventful travel day.just wondering how I can learn to play the piano in 58 days so I can have a free breakfast 😀

[jemima2]

Oh goodness I am stressed just reading that! Well done to you all and that lovely room as a reward 😄

[Guest]

Brill travel day. Glad the case arrived quickly! We once went to oz and our babies buggy stayed in London! Really looking forward to the rest of your report!

[Loopylooloo]

Jane you did brilliantly - and what a lovely room you have! OKW looks lovely.

[Davy Crockett]

Brilliant! Love your writing.

[thewatsons]

Great start cant wait to read more xx

[Gezzs]

Great report! I don't know how you find the time to write all that whilst on holiday! Have a super time.