Lights Out! - 09.04.19 - Travel Day

[Rescuer]

I’m sure we’ve forgotten something… April 2019

Index

09.04.19 - Travel Day

Not up quite as early as I planned, although ds was up and dressed before I even woke up. We were 10 minutes late in setting off once I checked passports and credit cards for the last time.

Dh drove us as his work is not too far from the airport and we picked up df on the way. It did feel a bit weird when he dropped us off, we’ve had loads of separate trips away from each other but I think this is the longest one.

Thankfully the BA check in was calm, not like our 2 hour wait just to bag check in the summer. When I checked in online I couldn’t print boarding passes for df or for me, after a minor panic and calming down after asking questions on here it turned out that we had both been selected for enhanced security. The lady at check in printed off our boarding passes though and we were still able to check the luggage straight through to MCO.

We printed the tags off at the machine and it decided not to issue a receipt for mine so I have a photo of the barcode and hoped nothing goes wrong.

Security was fine but there must be something quite dodgy looking about us this trip as I was selected for the machine and df had to get her bag checked! Ds was ofcourse gloating away at this 😂

We headed over to Wetherspoons to get a decent breakfast as we had loads of time.

Ds - after negotiations had a small breakfast and a Sanpellegrino.

DF - scrambled egg on toast with crispy bacon and a latte

Me - roll with sausage and a latte

What can I say, all good and a nice start to our long journey.

Our first flight took off slightly late but we landed pretty much on time, I’m sure they add an extra bit of time to internal flights to allow for this😂. The flight was fine and we disembarked into a rainy London and were put on a bus to domestic arrivals. Why oh why can’t they sort out a flight connections.

Gatwick security, however, was super efficient. We had some device time sitting in departures while we tried to decide if we were actually hungry or not.

Some peach Coke Zero and a Lindt mint bar to keep us going.

We headed to the gate early as I was worried about the extra security check but it was painless. Lots of people were getting it done.

Flight was fine albeit a little bumpy at times. I watched a Star is Born, I’d never seen it before, it was amazing, I thought Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper were superb.

BA Plane Food



The food was food, the little starter Moroccan salad was weird and I normally like these things. The main courses were tomato and pesto pasta which df had and said she liked it a lot ( photo fail) and chicken chasseur which ds and I had. It was ok.

The cheese and crackers was the best bit😂. Our opinion was split on the mango pudding which df declared disgusting but ds and I liked it.

We had a Magnum which was welcome.

I was surprised by the afternoon snack, as long as we have been flying we have been given the chicken Cesar sandwich and a kit kat, neither of which has impressed me much! Today though the main sandwich was hot smoked salmon and cucumber, strange choice and half the size but very very nice.

Df refuses the sandwich but when she saw the flapjack underneath she reconsidered and the nice lady found her a veggie one which was cheese and caramelised onion, she said it was really nice as well.

The flapjacks were actually awesome.

We all watched the Crimes of Grindelwald. Although df and I both fell asleep watching it. We played Tipping Point on the iPad and this iPhone game called Danger which is just like Frustration. We love Frustration and at the moment it is our nightly go to after dinner board game.

The first half of the flight seemed really long, the second half was better and at points it was clear skies while we were flying over Canada which gave us some nice snowy views.

There was a fair bit of turbulence but nothing extreme, we were on the old style BA plane but I had no complaints.

We landed pretty much on time and began the power walk into the immigration hall, it didn’t look crazy but a flight from Zurich and San Paolo had landed just seconds behind us. Within 5 minutes the hall was full.

We were 45 minutes though including collecting luggage which was waiting for us on the carousel. The immigration people were super efficient with minimal questions. I was a bit concerned about df going through herself but they put her at the one next to us and when the guy asked her about her travel party she just gave us a wave as did he.

Our driver from Quicksilver was waiting and we were at the Rosen Plaza in good time. Friendly check in and they had given us the 14th floor again which I’d asked for. The view is good, we can see the Orlando eye, the star flyer and volcano bay. The heavens opened just as we got to our room.

Not much unpacking needed, thank you packing cubes and we headed out once the rain stopped.

Miller’s Ale House

We walked up to Miller’s for dinner. It was a 25 minute wait for a table and the 3 of us were flagging by the time we got sat down.

I had a blue moon mango beer and df a corona, she got asked for Id and showed her driving license, the waitress also wanted her passport which she didn’t have. I had a photo of her passport on my phone, she relented but told df to carry her passport if she was coming back as they are really strict in Miller’s. Not a problem I’ve had as I looked everyone of my 45 years by that point.😂

We had a voucher for a free flatbread, we went for pepperoni and ordered that straight away with the drinks. It was delicious and took the edge off our hunger.

Kids eat free on a Tuesday if they are under 12 so ds ordered off the kids menu much to his disgust. He had shrimp and fries.

Df had the zinger mountain melt, she enjoyed this and made a fair dent in it with a little help from ds.

I went for the fajitas which were good and perfectly sized by the time I gave one to ds.

The bill was $43.

Afterwards we crossed over to Walgreens and bought these goodies.

And ofcourse some of these Krispy Kremes for the morning.

Back to the hotel with us all desperate to go to bed. We were in 10 minutes when the power went off! We set up lights with bottles of water perched on top of our phone torches. From the looks of a few buildings were out. We went to bed to be strartled by an intercom system apologising for the power cut. It wasn’t off for too long but I did have to get back up to turn all the lights off. Anyway just part of the exciting adventure.

$43.64 kids eat free and flatbread

[Dizzny Momma]

Not too hectic for travel day looking forward to reading more
Margaret

[clochette]

A good travel day. We're you upset when you didn't get asked for ID. I don't think it's a problem I will have either
Looking forward to reading more.

[Rescuer]

Originally Posted by Dizzny Momma

Not too hectic for travel day looking forward to reading more
Margaret

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Thanks for reading. Everything went very smoothly.

Originally Posted by clochette

A good travel day. We're you upset when you didn't get asked for ID. I don't think it's a problem I will have either
Looking forward to reading more.

See more...

Thanks for reading.

To be fair Df is lots younger than me so no it didn't upset me. I don't remember the last time in the US I was asked for Id. Maybe time for a better moisturiser!

[disneypars]

Quite a pleasant travel day. Agree wish they would sort out Gatwick domestic arrivals. Used to be OK before the terminal switch.

[Palm trees]

You travelled 4 days before us and it took us waaay longer to clear the airport at Orlando, lucky you!

[Rescuer]

Originally Posted by disneypars

Quite a pleasant travel day. Agree wish they would sort out Gatwick domestic arrivals. Used to be OK before the terminal switch.

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Out of the 6 BA Orlando flights we have done only once was there a flight connections option. It surely can't be that tricky, we did the flybe/virgin rout at Christmas via Manchester and flight connections worked well there.

Thanks for reading

[Rescuer]

Originally Posted by Palm trees

You travelled 4 days before us and it took us waaay longer to clear the airport at Orlando, lucky you!

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I think we were lucky we were quick off the plane but there really is no way to predict how long it takes.

Hope you enjoyed - are enjoying your holidays.

[Goldia]

Ooh you've started. Great travel day.

I haven't ever been asked for ID in Orlando which I'm really cross about! I did get asked for ID at a liquor store in Boston a couple of years ago, but the assistant apologised as he asked and explained it was store policy to ask everyone even when they were clearly over 21, so I wasn't that impressed with him. Prior to that the last time I was asked for ID was in Vegas back in 2001.

Anyway, the view at the top of the hotel does sound great, shame about having your sleep disturbed by the power cut announcement and then the lights coming on.

I'm looking forward to seeing how you get on in the parks, spring break is supposed to be a busy time of year, but I bet it felt really quiet compared to when you were last there.

[Rescuer]

Originally Posted by Goldia

Ooh you've started. Great travel day.

I haven't ever been asked for ID in Orlando which I'm really cross about! I did get asked for ID at a liquor store in Boston a couple of years ago, but the assistant apologised as he asked and explained it was store policy to ask everyone even when they were clearly over 21, so I wasn't that impressed with him. Prior to that the last time I was asked for ID was in Vegas back in 2001.

Anyway, the view at the top of the hotel does sound great, shame about having your sleep disturbed by the power cut announcement and then the lights coming on.

I'm looking forward to seeing how you get on in the parks, spring break is supposed to be a busy time of year, but I bet it felt really quiet compared to when you were last there.

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Maybe we just look mature, resonsible and sensible rather than old

The power cut and announcements were just laughable, the other 2 slept through the lights coming back on. It could have been worse 5 minutes earlier we were in the lift.