Across to the Universe. - day 7 - planes, trains and automobiles.

[Rescuer]

Day 7 and I suppose 8😂

Saturday 19th February.

Index is here

Everywhere was Forecast to be busy today as this was Presidents weekend. We were pretty happy that we’d covered everything we wanted.

Up early we ( I mean me) got the rest of the packing organised. It was great having late check out as there was no rush.

Headed over to Dutch Trading Company for coffee and breakfast for Dh snd Ds. I checked the app for the flight and saw we were delayed till 21.50.

Ds and Dh had Egg, sausage and cheese biscuits for Ds and Dh. They were ok.

Frappaccino for Ds and cappuccino with almond milk for me. I had a kind bar mini.

While Dh was in the line I had a wander and took some photos.

They were keen to have a wee visit to the games room for a competitive game of air hockey. They didn’t manage to fall out as they won a game each.

Table tennis next, I had a game but my coordination is questionable at best so I was well beaten and Dh claimed an overall moral victory but I was sure Ds was the winner.

We headed back up to the room by, collected our cases and said goodbye to our beautiful view.

We dropped the luggage off at bell services to collect later, I have to say everyone we encountered at Sapphire falls was lovely and helpful. Can’t really say enough good things about this resort.

This was going to be the busiest park day so we had very little expectation in terms of rides. We caught the boat as there was one heading into dock as we walked past. Right enough, it was clear to see the park was a bit more crowded this morning.

Despicable me was showing 70 minutes and touring plans showed 50. Gringotts was 100 minutes with touring plans showing 87 minutes. ET was the only thing we hadn’t done but it was 45 minutes and we weren’t waiting that.

First things first was to collect some Mardi Gras food cards to put away for the summer trip. Of course since we were at the booths it would have been rude not to pick up any food.

Ds had the gumbo - loved it again.

Dh had the Nashville chicken Mac and cheese. It was a bit spicy for him but good.

I had the shrimp boil. Ds and Dh ate the potatoes and corn. I had the shrimp and sausage. You got quite a lot and to be honest I was just happy to get a tasty option that worked for me. 😂

Dh had a purple haze beer and shared beignets with Ds.

We headed into the monsters shop and got Ds a really cool mummy top for our HHN trip.

At this point we got an email from BA showing check in would open at normal time and would not close till 20.50 so we decided to push back the time we were getting picked up from 3.30pm to 5.30pm.

We walked round to men in black, it was showing as 80 minutes, 55 minutes on touring plans but 7 minutes for single rider. Single rider was effectively walk on and we did it 3 times back to back, I maintained my winning streak 3 out of 3. On the last go the team member just put us all on the same one and again Ds snd I both got the red button bonus points.

Thinking it would be a good idea to get something decent to eat before leaving for the airport we headed out. Today cafe looked a good option but it was roasting and there was only outdoor seating free. So we carried on to city walk. Since the parks were heaving I assumed we’d probably be ok to get somewhere there. Nope tried Vivos and Antijitos but both were full and would have meant at least a 45 minute - 1 hour wait.

We just started walking thinking we had food options on the way back, Jakes at RPR, Amatista at Sapphire or food court at Aventura.

Nobody fancied Jakes and Amatista was between service so we ended up at Urban pantry and we were more than happy with that, some of the stations were closed but there was more than enough choice.

Ds had chicken wings with bbq sauce and onion rings. Done size of portion and he really liked them. Freshly made.

Dh and I had wok bowls. Chicken sweet snd sour for Dh and rice. I had chicken teriyaki no rice and extra broccoli. Both were lovely.

Ds had a strawberry açai from Starbucks

Headed back over to Sapphire and we had a bit of time so opted for a drink in the balcony at strongwater tavern to have a beer.

We sat totally chilled while Watching hulk, rip ride and doom in the in the distance with blue sky and sunshine, a lovely end to the holiday.

Our pick up arrived a wee bit early and we headed over to the airport at 5.15pm. The BA desk was really quiet and maybe at this point I should have asked about the connecting flight but I was pretty confident at that point we’d make it. I’d been stressing about the luggage weight but all 3 were around 20kg.

We sat around for a bit and had a wander around the shops, nobody was particularly hungry. I went into the Disney store and saw they had the Rebecca Hook Mickey headband 50th anniversary necklace on display. I assumed they wouldn’t have any but asked anyway. The cast member was lovely and went to check with her manager and got approval to sell me the display one. My Mil had given me money at Christmas so this was a perfect gift.

Not my picture.

Security showed a 3-10 minute wait so it seemed like a good time to go through. It was silent and they told us to take nothing out of bags. Ds had to be checked as his zips on his joggers set off the alarm thing. The TSA agent was lovely with him and was admiring his squid game tshirt and chatting with him about how it good it was.

After the monorail was really quiet, probably just our flight still to go. I was a bit unsure about the menu at Bahama Breeze so we opted for outback, next time we will be back at Bahama Breeze.

Outback will be a once and done.

Ds and Dh had chicken Caesar salads which they said was ok.

I had the burger without the bun, they somehow forgot to add extra lettuce and gave me fries instead😂.

We had 3 $9 vouchers for the delay.

We boarded a little late, another totally full flight. There’s was an announcement we’d be even later in taking off as there was an issue with the paperwork as it had mco on it instead of Orlando international? The pilot sounded mighty annoyed at this. It was looking more likely our internal flight might not happen. I did ask a flight attendant what would happen, would connecting flight people be allowed off first - she just said BA will just book you on a new flight - end of discussion.

A better diabetic meal in the return. Grilled chicken, veg and rice. I wasn’t particularly hungry but it was fine. The salad with dressing was fresh and the berries were really nice.

Dh had creamy chicken type thing which he said was surprisingly alright. Chocolate mousse for pudding.

Nobody ate breakfast. They gave me the diabetic one which was a croissant with cheese and meat, a yogurt,didn’t eat them and fresh fruit melon and pineapple - I had a little.

The flight was quick and again we asked about disembarking but they did this strictly in rows and told us to still follow flight connections that they’d sort us there.

Here’s where it all went a bit pear shaped and feel free not to read on as I might rant a little.

At flight connections a BA member of staff directed us through passport control and advised if our flight was delayed we may still make it. Passport checks were super quick. However, Our boarding passes would not scan at the gate and directed us to the BA staff member who was dealing with other customers. Patiently waited around 40 minutes to speak to a staff member. A new member of staff appeared and told us she wasn't reservation trained so couldn't book us on a flight, anyway the next flight was full and anyway all domestic flights were about to be cancelled.

She told us to go and collect our baggage then go to a BA desk on level 3 who would sort out hotels, trains, flight options etc. At this point I had no reason to doubt that we’d get sorted.

Arrived at baggage, it was chaotic. We waited 30 minutes to speak to staff member who advised no way would we get our luggage and all they could do was get us to fill in a form. While we filled in the form the staff member was helping someone else and booked them an internal flight. I asked if she could do the same for us. She was very helpful and looked at new flights and booked us on the first available Flight which was 2.40pm next day from London City. She also advised us to go to departures level 3 to find out more info about trains in case that was a better option, hotel bookings and help on how to get things we might need.

We Left baggage and continued to departures where a very nice staff member informed us there was no such desk or customer services to speak to help us with things and we should just book what we wanted and claim later. She advised this was what they had all been told to tell people by management. I was fairly fuming at this point as we really felt we’d been fobbed off.

So no luggage, no hotel, no way to travel home the same day and no assistance, I’d emailed BA holidays but no response and no phone numbers were being answered.

Dh was keen that we should look at trains, not much choice. So as we needed to travel across London we we decided to travel to Kings Cross on the tube to see what the story was before looking for a London city hotel.

I was well regretting not having had anything to eat at this point before leaving Heathrow.

At Kings cross we managed to book a train but No reserved seating available. The thought of standing in the train didn’t fill me with joy but the guy on the ticket desk said there was an unreserved carriage and we might be lucky.

I wasn’t feeling great at all without food so we nipped to pret to get food for the train.

Luckily we did get a seat but others weren’t so lucky and it took ages to get back.

Eventually arrived back in Edinburgh at 22.45 rather than 1pm, it was snowing when we left the station and yes jackets for Ds and Dh were in the cases. Why is it that there are loads of taxis till you get to the front?

I’d had to speak to work and had swapped my day off, blood sugars were not in the greatest shape and we got back so late that we hadn’t got any food in. Cheese and M&S crackers for tea it was 😂 should I have been happy at least we had no cases to unpack! They arrived back on the Wednesday.

I Felt let down by British Airways and fobbed off by staff members who understandably were feeling overwhelmed with issues. Yes issues do happen, no one can help that but the service we received was well below par. We were exhausted and could have just done with a bit of help.

At this point still waiting on a response snd expenses back from BA.

Then the icing on the cake of positive covid tests for Ds and I the next day and Dh joined us the day after.

And that’s me done other than highs and lows. ( clue BA service on return is a huge huge low 😂&#128514

[mick]

Sad end to a great holiday

Won’t be long before your next one

Joan

[lfc_sarah]

Such a shame about BA 😭 then Covid. Sounds like a complete disaster end to an awesome trip!

I'm completely gutted your trip report is finished, it has been really great to read!

[Orlandoguy]

Not a good end to the holiday, just focus on all the great moments that you did have, start planning that next trip and hope you are all better soon!

[sunshines]

Last day in Florida sounded lovely and relaxed. The next 24 hours traveling -- not so much. On a positive note, you have terrific photos. And I love your hair. Looks good.

[Cutiepie]

Such as shame about the travelling and covid at the end but your trip up until that point sounded fab!

Thanks for sharing and looking forward to the summer report

[Rescuer]

Originally Posted by mick

Sad end to a great holiday

Won’t be long before your next one

Joan

See more...

Thanks, yes not the greatest way to finish.

Originally Posted by lfc_sarah

Such a shame about BA 😭 then Covid. Sounds like a complete disaster end to an awesome trip!

I'm completely gutted your trip report is finished, it has been really great to read!

See more...

Thanks for reading, yours will be here in no time. Hope you are successful with more of your Adrs.

Originally Posted by Orlandoguy

Not a good end to the holiday, just focus on all the great moments that you did have, start planning that next trip and hope you are all better soon!

See more...

Absolutely, It was a fab holiday, not a great end but the travelling fiasco is separate to the holiday itself.

We were all lucky with the covid as it was mild for us.

Already in full planning mode.

57 days for you, exciting! How’s your planning going? Are you doing Disney, universal, a mix?

[Rescuer]

Originally Posted by sunshines

Last day in Florida sounded lovely and relaxed. The next 24 hours traveling -- not so much. On a positive note, you have terrific photos. And I love your hair. Looks good.

See more...

Aww thanks. We did have a great last day then it all went a bit to pot, first time we’ve had to deal with that kind of chaos, just been lucky up to now.

Originally Posted by Cutiepie

Such as shame about the travelling and covid at the end but your trip up until that point sounded fab!

Thanks for sharing and looking forward to the summer report

See more...

Thanks for reading, it was a lovely trip, so glad we decided to go. The travel chaos maybe couldn’t have been helped but I did expect a bit more from BA in terms of customer service.

I see you are heading to California in the summer, that will be fab, are you all planned?

[pho3nix]

Forgetting about the ending, sound slide you all had an amazing holiday! And only 113 days u til you return again 😁
Thanks for posting!

[rafjen]

We were on the same flight- BA really let us all down, The customer service and communication was terrible.