collybird's Unfinished Business [a Fall 2019 Report] - COMPLETE

[caitlinsmummy]

So glad you had an amazing time.

Pre Travel day is as good as it can be. We used to love F&B's and in the last couple of years we've really gone off it, I think their standards have really dropped too which is sad, but at least you enjoyed your food and you were off to FLORIDA! Xx

[Goldia]

You're back. I'm so sad. There was something quite nice just knowing you were out there having fun. I agree that Frankie and Bennies never seems to quite live up to the expectation.

I'm so looking forward to finding out how you got on and what restaurants are going to be on our list for next year.

[collybird]

TRAVEL DAY

I hate travel days. I don’t even like reading about them. They are like a huge barrier to all the magic that awaits, and as a pessimist they are just so stressful for me.

We decided against Premier Inn breakfast as I’d have just spent the entire time fretting about getting through security so headed over the road to the terminal.

We had been cursed with bad luck in the run up to this trip, things just kept getting wrong, and at one point I was thinking we weren’t destined to go at all. The tide seemed to have turned as things seemed to be going smoothly, bag drop and security had been a breeze... That was until I got to the till in Boots to pay for our meal deal and I didn’t have my purse, with all our cards and money or passport!

I had no idea what had happened, I had them in security, I had even checked the tray was empty before I put it back, and we’d gone straight to Boots… They were in the bottom of the basket. Disaster averted.

Nik was so patient and understanding, if the shoe had been on the other foot, I’d have been hopping mad.

With my nerves in shreds we headed in search of breakfast.

Since we last flew from Gatwick Garfunkel’s restaurant has been replaced by a place called Sonoma. They had an electronic board outside the restaurant showing the current time from ordering to food leaving the kitchen and in the interest of speed we decided this was our best bet.

SONOMA

You can see their menu here: sonomagatwick/menus/Sonom...Menu_FINAL.pdf

We both had Sonoma Country Breakfast fried or scrambled eggs, slow roasted tomato, mixed mushrooms, hash potatoes, smoked bacon, morning Cumberland sausages, Heinz baked beans + classic sourdough toast

Really nice breakfast, I don’t think it was served as quickly as promised but we weren’t really on a deadline so it wasn’t a big issue. I’m not a fan of Cumberland sausage and the bacon was a bit overdone for my liking so in future I think I’d go for a vegetarian breakfast as the potatoes were to die for and I’d have been happy with those, eggs, beans and mushrooms! The sour dough was nice but could have been a bit more toasted. There was lots of variety on the menu and a few things caught my eye.

The restaurant offers the ability to pay via the website which I love as no waiting around for the till. Breakfast including tip cost Ł35.90, again pricey but we were going to Disney, no point in pinching pennies now.

The one negative of Sonoma was their coke, the glasses were tiny and although the menu says they serve Coca Cola it tasted like supermarket cola. I thought there was something wrong with their drinks dispensing gas as it was almost flat but we ate here again on our return journey and it was the same, so goodness knows what they are doing to their drinks.

If like me you are of a nervous disposition when it comes to travel days, I'd avoid reading now.

We board on time, engines going full throttle as we head down the runaway… Then we stop. There’s something wrong with the navigation system. They need an engineer. Captain assures us it will be fixed. We head back to gate. Engineer arrives. System reset. Off we go again. Same thing happens. It’s almost two hours since we were supposed to depart. I’ve been here before, soon the crew are going to be in danger of being over their hours. I tell Nik I don’t think we’ll be going today and am already mentally re-doing my plans in my head. But finally, we take off third time lucky.

The flight is uneventful but my goodness TUI seats are uncomfortable, my tailbone is still in agony from the flight now and I haven’t been able to sit comfortably since. Lots of kids on board all of whom know how to behave far better than their parents do.

There's no choice of meal on TUI, you get what you're given and have to like it haha. It was pasta in a tomato sauce so quite difficult to go wrong with this, it was nice enough. The Chocolate Orange Ganache pudding was delicious, but so rich that I couldn't finish it. Nik helped me out haha.

Drinks service with TUI isn't great, the offer a choice of drink shortly after take off, but then they only offer tea, coffee or wine with your meal, and even those aren't brought around until after all the meals have been served. We were thankful for having bought our own drinks on board.

Closer to landing we were served afternoon tea of a cheese and onion roll with a scone.

These were really nice, I'd say TUI were about as good as it gets regarding airline food outbound.

We make up lots of time in the air and arrive at Sanford only slightly later than scheduled. We’ve never flown there before but my mum is a big fan of how small it is, I am sure we’ll be on the road in no time. Sanford claim they are Simpler Faster Better. I found them Slower, Further, and I shall leave the B to your imagination. We were an hour at immigration, I thought not the end of the world as the cases will be waiting for us, nope, another hour waiting for them! How miffed would you be if you’d paid for Premium and then had to wait all that time!?

It was 6.30pm by the time we set off from the airport, I’d envisaged us eating at Disney Springs by now. I overheard the couple behind us in the queue say they were going to pick up their hire car, get something to eat and then FIND SOMEWHERE TO STAY! Talk about living on the edge We decided we’d eat at the All-Stars Sports’ food court and get an early night.

But no, the bad luck was not over yet.

The last thing I had wanted to do as part of my planning was look up directions from Sanford to WDW. Nik laughed and said don’t be silly, they will be plenty of signs. So, I didn’t bother. Well I am sure there are plenty of signs, but only if you are going in the right direction. It took us FOUR HOURS to get to our resort. I had to navigate in the dark using the Alamo provided map like we were in the 90s. It was so stressful, we were tired, hungry and thirsty, and at one point I just wanted to give up, but I just kept telling myself that we were here and nothing else mattered. When I saw the first street name I recognised (John Young Parkway) I could have cried with relief.

Nevertheless, by the time we reached the resort the food court was closed. We went to McDonalds and were so ravenous we ate it in the car like animals. It was not pretty and I will spare you the pictures as I am sure you have seen a cheeseburger and chicken nuggets before.

Next, the dreams begins with breakfast at Kona, lunch at Greyser Point and dinner at Boma.

[collybird]

Originally Posted by caitlinsmummy

So glad you had an amazing time.

Pre Travel day is as good as it can be. We used to love F&B's and in the last couple of years we've really gone off it, I think their standards have really dropped too which is sad, but at least you enjoyed your food and you were off to FLORIDA! Xx

See more...

It was an odd pre-travel day for me as I was working right up to 10 minutes before we left the house, so surreal.

I have learned that F&Bs pastas should be avoided at all costs, they are worse than a microwaved ready meal.

Originally Posted by Goldia

You're back. I'm so sad. There was something quite nice just knowing you were out there having fun. I agree that Frankie and Bennies never seems to quite live up to the expectation.

I'm so looking forward to finding out how you got on and what restaurants are going to be on our list for next year.

See more...

I think it makes us feel closer to the magic when someone we know is there, I am now living vicariously through the people on my Instagram as it really feels as though we were never away at all.

Safe travels and enjoy Washington! I can't wait to hear all about it.

[princessnicki]

OMG what a travel day, glad you got there in the end and I bet that McDs tasted amazing after all the drama! looking forward to the deluxe dining

[caitlinsmummy]

Oh my word, I thought after all the TC drama things would go smoothly for you. I have no idea how you kept you calm through all of that, I'd have cried on more than one occassion but as you say at least you got there. I really hope you get a good night's sleep and tomorrow improves! Xx

[abiknox]

4 hours to get from Sanford!? How on earth did you manage that, its straight down the I4 Bless you, I imagine things were tense on that journey.

I'd have been in bits over the 2 false starts on the plane too, I'm an OK flyer but anything out of the ordinary sends me into a blind panic.

I find the Dreamliners quite comfy but can definitely share your pain with the time SFB take to get the bags off, its farcical isn't it?

Hope you had better luck as the holiday progressed x

[CosmicGirl]

Oh that drive sounds awful... I don't think I would've survived without stopping for food if we'd spotted golden arches along the way. Then again, I probably would've said "we'll be there soon, it's better to eat at the resort" if anyone else were to ask for food. It's very different if you don't know it's going to be a 4-hour drive, isn't it?

The 90s map comment made me laugh because that is exactly what we did on our first trip. On all trips to the US/Canada until 2012, actually haha. I have this Michelin road book with all of North America in it and some pages may or may not have been soaked in Mountain Dew. Now of course we never got lost and I never yelled at anyone to look at the map.

[Mexy02]

It’s nice to see you are still together after that travel day
Soooo looking forward to reading along , I hate travel day and flying , it’s a plane and it's crap food

[Rescuer]

Glad you are feeling ok with the jet lag being back at work the next day. We are doing that in February for the first time.

Your journey sounds long and stressful but you got their in the end. Not a fan of the ‘smaller and faster’ airport then 😂