Scottishnellie live & indirect Apr22 - Travel Day

[scottishnellie]

I didn’t sleep too well as Kevin snored all night. He’s not usually too bad but I think because I was already nervous about tomorrow it didn’t take much to keep me awake at times. Although I must admit Danny’s call had definitely made a big difference to how uneasy I was.

Despite Danny reassuring me about the queues, where to go, what was needed, etc I still planned to be there more than 3 hours before our 9:30 flight just to be sure. I’d rather have time to kill in the airport than before in a panic.

Alarms off at 4:50. Jumped in the shower, got ready, phoned the kids to check they were up and running on time which they were. We left the rooms at 5:30 to walk to T3.

I was following Stanleycamels excellent directions (previously posted on another thread) to walk from Hilton Garden Inn T2 to Terminal 3. It was a doddle. I’m just going to reuse those exact directions here and add a few photos in for those that wanted to know the route.

come out of the hotel,

walk across the car park and you will come across the covered concourse at the entrance to T2.

Turn LEFT and find the lift banks that specifically say Underground/Heathrow Express as not all sets go there.

go to level -1 underground level

On exiting the lifts you turn right and it is about 5 minutes walk to where the Underground entrance is.

Keep going straight on and you will find some travelators here eventually going past the entrance to Heathrow Express and continue towards T3

there is an area that divides into Arrivals and Departures for T3 and taking the departure route you will come to a set of lifts

which will take you up to the outside of T3 (covered)

We left at 5:35 and entered T3 at 5:47 so took us 12 minutes but we do walk at a fairly brisk pace. All 4 of us do just walk quite pacy. When I’m out with my bestie, (Disneydianne) she’s always trying to get me to slow down! Apart from when when we went to C2C and I was post covid. She was practically carrying me along then. Sorry Di!

Found American Airlines man who explained they were currently checking in the Chicago flight, so to join a queue just across the way and once Chicago was cleared we would be checked in. We only stood a few minutes and it moved forward.

Exactly as Danny had told me, the AA man wanted to see our verifly was completed on my phone, and also wanted to check our covid test certificates before he would even let us enter the line to check in. Took me seconds to whip out our paper copies of the tests and we got waved past a family where the mum was trying to access them all on her phone. Go old school people. Paper!

By 6am check in was done. She told us we would need to collect our bags at Philadelphia, then drop them again at the AA belt for connecting flights, before making our way to the next gate.

Next step was security which was the thing i had been most worried about. No need. We only waited a few minutes to go through. I got the body scan and pat down because I bleeped but I think it was because of the sparkly and metal bits on my jeans.

By 6:15am security was done and we were in the shops. Can’t believe how simple it all was! We were so lucky. I dropped Danny a wee message to say thanks for phoning me and that he had been right about everything. So kind of him. Funny when you have folk like that. We were pals at school but have barely bumped into each other a few times since school for the odd drink, but yet when I speak to him he’s the same old Danny, like no time has passed, you know? I just love that. I definitely owe him a pint.

The boys disappeared to find a seat while Hannah and I had a good browse round.

I also messaged my dad as I knew he would be worried about us getting through after all the new stories.

I bought myself some perfume as I usually wear Good Girl at the moment coz Kevin loves it, but it’s a bit heavy for sunny days. This is very light and fresh - Eternity Summer Daze. I also got Kevin some Cool Water. I know it’s ancient, and maybe a bit naff, but I love how clean it smells. And I got a wee hand cream. I love a really nice smelling hand cream. Can lift my whole mood! I’m like that with scents.

We found the boys and sat for a while then the kids went off to get something for breakfast. Neither WH Smith’s nor Boots had their sandwich delivery in yet so they went to cafe Nero for bacon rolls and a pastry, bringing me back a latte which I had with a few malt biscuits I had with me.

Kevin wasn’t sure what he wanted yet so he told them not to get him anything. However, Hannah and I were sure that he now NEEDED something to eat as he was getting well grumpy. Eventually he went off and came back with some juice and a sandwich. Once he ate that he was fine again. Hangry man.

We’re not really ‘sit in for a big cooked breakfast’ type folk. We don’t eat big breakfasts at home either. Probably just as well as it was very busy with great big queues to get into the sit in venues.

I sent the kids off again to buy a sandwich for in their bags incase the meal on the plane was rubbish. I don’t need hangry teenagers as well. They got a couple of things from pret a manger.

Hannah set about downloading Bridgerton to the ipad for me to watch. She’s already binged the whole series and is raging that she can’t talk to me about it as I’ve not seen it yet. I might watch on the plane if no films I want.

I had taken the advice of Peko and downloaded the AA app which was great for giving me alerts that the flight was expected to be on time and telling me which gate to go to when it opened. No jumping up the check the boards but I did notice I got those alerts before the boards even updated.

At 8:20 we made our way through to the gate.

8:45 They started boarding in groups according to the number on your boarding pass

8:56 our group was called. The flight was completely full and there wasn’t much room in the overhead lockers by the time we got on.

Thankfully we only have our bags to go under the seat in front so it wasn’t an issue for us. I had bought myself a Mia Tui bag thanks to a number of ladies mentioning it on a thread about travel bags. I love it. All the wee compartments appeal to my organising nature.

L

I love that it comes with a wee cross body bag for passport, phone & purse.

AA had allocated our seats when we booked and they had never changed. We had 2 seats with 2 across the aisle. There was a wee package with a blanket and pillow on each seat.

At 9:31 we started to taxi to the runway and by 9:40 we were up. The kids were lucky as nobody sat in the window seat next to them so they were able to spread out. Kieran, always the gentleman, gave his sister the window seat.

Meals came out at 10:30. There wasn’t a choice. The hot part said ‘chicken balsamic sauce’ with a wheat allergen warning underneath. Then there was a wee lettuce, tomato and cheese salad with a balsamic vinaigrette sachet, roll n butter, cheese n crackers, and a brookie bar for dessert. I liked that it came with a wee bottle of water which was really cold.

The chicken thing was nice enough. The sauce just tasted chickeny, not balsamic. Kieran wasn’t a fan as soon as he saw the mushrooms, the other 3 of us enjoyed it.

They came straight behind the meal cart with complimentary drinks. Orange juice, wine, soft drink cans and beer cans like bud light and goose island.

There were plenty of films to choose from with a normal headphone adapter. They came round and handed out complimentary headphones to anyone who needed them.

I watched House Of Gucci. I love Lady Gaga. Even more since the Oscar’s with Liza Minnelli. Such a nice person.

At 11:14 the complimentary drinks cart came around again and I had another white wine. Kevin had a beer. The kids had 2 more soft drinks

They were really strict at enforcing the masks, repeatedly announcing that you could only lower your mask when ACTIVELY eating or drinking, and the air hostesses would stop anytime they were passing someone who had left it down between sips. It was the same folk being told over and over. I get that some people disagree with the masks, but if you chose to fly on a flight where it was made clear it was mandatory then just do it eh? Why make it harder for the crew? It’s not their rules.

1pm they served pretzels with either water or orange juice

We were due to land at 12:35 but I noticed on the flight info it was predicting 11:40 local time. I hoped this was right as it would our right connection time a bit easier if it was true.

Hannah slept most of the flight on and off which is good, as she needs the most sleep out of all of us. I was hoping this meant she would be comfortable when we reached Orlando.

I then watched King Richard (obviously down in my estimation since the Oscar’s which is a shame as I always thought he was a better man than that). No denying it’s a good film and a very good performance.

3:25pm they served this

which tasted a lot like veggie pizza. It was yummy.

The drinks trolley came round again but we declined alcohol this time in favour of water and Diet Coke

They announced they’d ran out of customs forms to complete on the plane so to collect one in the customs hall.

Just before 4pm the seat back screen showed a message that we could now access connecting gate information on the my flight bit of the ife. Sure enough when I clicked it I could see the flight and which gate we would be heading to. Impressed.

Switching to USA time now - We landed at 11:40, a whole 55 minutes ahead of schedule. Brilliant. We were in row 34 right up the back but due to the early landing I wasn’t in such a panic about getting off and our connection time. They then announced we had to wait 10 minutes before we could taxi onto the stand and let us off as customs only open on the hour!

Of course all these muppets start getting up and opening overhead lockers which meant they had to keep announcing that everyone had to remain seated, seatbelts fastened or they would not be able to move the aircraft when it WAS time. Honestly. Some folk.

While sitting I got an alert from AA confirming the same gate details as shown on the flight.

We moved forward at 12 and started disembarking. Our row disembarked at 12:10. Walked smartly to customs, grabbed a customs form and filled it in in the queue. Got through customs by 12:58.

Out to the baggage carousel and our cases were all there on the belt. We walked through following the signs to connecting flights and just after this door below….

We handed the bags over and onto a baggage carousel. They checked where we were going and that all 4 cases had the MCO luggage label still on that had been applied in Heathrow.

Then it was wee short corridor to the gate

We got to the next gate at 13:20 so 68 minutes before our next flight leaves. But given we landed 55 minutes early our original connection would’ve been helluva tight! Not doing that again. Especially as we are essentially 4 adults moving at a decent pace and fairly savvy through customs & security etc. For a younger family our original connection time would have been scary. I get that AA would have arranged us onto a later flight had we missed it, but who needs that?

Loo breaks and waited to be called

Boarded at 14:10

AA Captain announced the flight would be 2hrs 3mins whereas it was originally meant to be 2hrs 35mins.

Took off at 2:35pm

No backseat ife on this wee domestic flight but very simple to watch on a device via the Aa inflight wifi

and again loads of films available. By the time I bothered to look we were 20 minutes into the flight so I wouldn’t have time to watch a whole film anyway.

So I decided to just read my kindle.

At 3:20pm they served complimentary soft drinks so I had apple juice and the others had Diet Coke cans.

Flight passed really quickly and we landed at 4:40pm. We were off the flight and on the monorail by 4:55.

At baggage claim by 5pm. So nice to walk straight through at Orlando with no customs!

The cases came quickly then Kevin and the kids headed over to the Alamo garage to pick a car as he had done skip the counter.

I started the trek over to terminal A to get the visitor toll pass as there is still no collection at B. Very simple to open the app and scan it at the machine to collect the pass.

By the time I got back he was trying to choose between a Jeep Grand Cherokee and a highlander. We went with the Cherokee as we’ve had that before and it was fine. I was less sure about him taking a highlander that we’ve never had or heard of Anyones experience driving it.

We hung the toll pass from the mirror, drove to the exit, scanned the skip the counter, prepaid the petrol and off we went.

One other plus with this car is it has CarPlay. So we can just program waze which we use all the time, plug the phone in and away we go

We reached the Rosen Inn International on I-drive at just after 6pm and checked in to our room.

The boys decided to go for a walk around while Hannah and I just relaxed and freshened up. We just have 1 night here so no need to unpack. Just took out the packing cubes for tonight and took the stuff out of those.

That travel day was actually a complete doddle BUT only because we were very lucky that the london to Philadelphia flight landed 55 minutes early. Otherwise that connection could’ve been a nightmare. We were very lucky all day actually. Every single thing went like clockwork. We are Tired - but not much more tired than our normal travel we don’t think. I’m a bit more tired than the others but I know that’s because I’m still not 100% back to normal yet.

The boys came back and we decided we better get something to eat. I really wasn’t hungry at all as I feel I’ve eaten and drank all day. Kevin was getting hangry again and there was some argy bargying about where to go. We eventually decided on BJs Brewhouse as it was only a 5 minute walk away and there was a Walgreens next door to pick up some water n stuff for the room afterwards.

We were told it would be a 20 minute wait so left Kevin’s number for a text and took a seat outside. Well 3 of us did. Kevin started stoating down the street looking at other places coming back to say there was a Mexican further down. Not sure if he expected us to up n leave to there instead but he was given short shrift. We eventually got a table after 35 minutes.

Then the food took another 25-30 minutes so we were all completely wilted by the time it came. Although we had to admit everything was very tasty.

Kevin and Hannah shared a large pizza done margarita for Hannah and ‘great white’ which was a garlicky chicken n mushroom for Kevin.

It was massive and they couldn’t finish it but both said it was amazing

Kieran had a bacon cheeseburger

And I had boneless wings in garlic and Parmesan.

These tasted SO good. Everyone else sampled them and agreed. Very garlicky. I will be reeking tomorrow!

She didn’t charge us for drinks due to the slow service so the bill was less than $50.

Stopped into Walgreens for a few bottles of water before back to the hotel.

Our bodies now thought it was 3am and I was too gubbed to upload the trippie. So off to bed it was, knowing I would probably wake up at stupid o’clock.

And here I am right enough. 3am my time, 8am yours, uploading the trippie in the dark while the others snore around me. Apart from Kieran who has been talking in his sleep all night, and still is.

Thankfully having done half an hr doing this I feel I might be able to go back to bed for a bit before the 5am alarms go off. Fingers crossed I can sleep a wee bit more!

[2littleboys]

Great travel day Helen. Glad yous have arrived safely.

Looking forward to your daily updates.

[JanetteP]

Great start, loved having my morning read, and so looking forward to more. I've been looking at the Mia Tui bags too, must have read the same thread .

[DUNXandWILL]

Originally Posted by scottishnellie

I didn’t sleep too well as Kevin snored all night. He’s not usually too bad but I think because I was already nervous about tomorrow it didn’t take much to keep me awake at times. Although I must admit Danny’s call had definitely made a big difference to how uneasy I was.

Despite Danny reassuring me about the queues, where to go, what was needed, etc I still planned to be there more than 3 hours before our 9:30 flight just to be sure. I’d rather have time to kill in the airport than before in a panic.

Alarms off at 4:50. Jumped in the shower, got ready, phoned the kids to check they were up and running on time which they were. We left the rooms at 5:30 to walk to T3.

I was following Stanleycamels excellent directions (previously posted on another thread) to walk from Hilton Garden Inn T2 to Terminal 3. It was a doddle. I’m just going to reuse those exact directions here and add a few photos in for those that wanted to know the route.

come out of the hotel,

walk across the car park and you will come across the covered concourse at the entrance to T2.

Turn LEFT and find the lift banks that specifically say Underground/Heathrow Express as not all sets go there.

go to level -1 underground level

On exiting the lifts you turn right and it is about 5 minutes walk to where the Underground entrance is.

Keep going straight on and you will find some travelators here eventually going past the entrance to Heathrow Express and continue towards T3

there is an area that divides into Arrivals and Departures for T3 and taking the departure route you will come to a set of lifts

which will take you up to the outside of T3 (covered)

We left at 5:35 and entered T3 at 5:47 so took us 12 minutes but we do walk at a fairly brisk pace. All 4 of us do just walk quite pacy. When I’m out with my bestie, (Disneydianne) she’s always trying to get me to slow down! Apart from when when we went to C2C and I was post covid. She was practically carrying me along then. Sorry Di!

Found American Airlines man who explained they were currently checking in the Chicago flight, so to join a queue just across the way and once Chicago was cleared we would be checked in. We only stood a few minutes and it moved forward.

Exactly as Danny had told me, the AA man wanted to see our verifly was completed on my phone, and also wanted to check our covid test certificates before he would even let us enter the line to check in. Took me seconds to whip out our paper copies of the tests and we got waved past a family where the mum was trying to access them all on her phone. Go old school people. Paper!

By 6am check in was done. She told us we would need to collect our bags at Philadelphia, then drop them again at the AA belt for connecting flights, before making our way to the next gate.

Next step was security which was the thing i had been most worried about. No need. We only waited a few minutes to go through. I got the body scan and pat down because I bleeped but I think it was because of the sparkly and metal bits on my jeans.

By 6:15am security was done and we were in the shops. Can’t believe how simple it all was! We were so lucky. I dropped Danny a wee message to say thanks for phoning me and that he had been right about everything. So kind of him. Funny when you have folk like that. We were pals at school but have barely bumped into each other a few times since school for the odd drink, but yet when I speak to him he’s the same old Danny, like no time has passed, you know? I just love that. I definitely owe him a pint.

The boys disappeared to find a seat while Hannah and I had a good browse round.

I also messaged my dad as I knew he would be worried about us getting through after all the new stories.

I bought myself some perfume as I usually wear Good Girl at the moment coz Kevin loves it, but it’s a bit heavy for sunny days. This is very light and fresh - Eternity Summer Daze. I also got Kevin some Cool Water. I know it’s ancient, and maybe a bit naff, but I love how clean it smells. And I got a wee hand cream. I love a really nice smelling hand cream. Can lift my whole mood! I’m like that with scents.

We found the boys and sat for a while then the kids went off to get something for breakfast. Neither WH Smith’s nor Boots had their sandwich delivery in yet so they went to cafe Nero for bacon rolls and a pastry, bringing me back a latte which I had with a few malt biscuits I had with me.

Kevin wasn’t sure what he wanted yet so he told them not to get him anything. However, Hannah and I were sure that he now NEEDED something to eat as he was getting well grumpy. Eventually he went off and came back with some juice and a sandwich. Once he ate that he was fine again. Hangry man.

We’re not really ‘sit in for a big cooked breakfast’ type folk. We don’t eat big breakfasts at home either. Probably just as well as it was very busy with great big queues to get into the sit in venues.

I sent the kids off again to buy a sandwich for in their bags incase the meal on the plane was rubbish. I don’t need hangry teenagers as well. They got a couple of things from pret a manger.

Hannah set about downloading Bridgerton to the ipad for me to watch. She’s already binged the whole series and is raging that she can’t talk to me about it as I’ve not seen it yet. I might watch on the plane if no films I want.

I had taken the advice of Peko and downloaded the AA app which was great for giving me alerts that the flight was expected to be on time and telling me which gate to go to when it opened. No jumping up the check the boards but I did notice I got those alerts before the boards even updated.

At 8:20 we made our way through to the gate.

8:45 They started boarding in groups according to the number on your boarding pass

8:56 our group was called. The flight was completely full and there wasn’t much room in the overhead lockers by the time we got on.

Thankfully we only have our bags to go under the seat in front so it wasn’t an issue for us. I had bought myself a Mia Tui bag thanks to a number of ladies mentioning it on a thread about travel bags. I love it. All the wee compartments appeal to my organising nature.

L

I love that it comes with a wee cross body bag for passport, phone & purse.

AA had allocated our seats when we booked and they had never changed. We had 2 seats with 2 across the aisle. There was a wee package with a blanket and pillow on each seat.

At 9:31 we started to taxi to the runway and by 9:40 we were up. The kids were lucky as nobody sat in the window seat next to them so they were able to spread out. Kieran, always the gentleman, gave his sister the window seat.

Meals came out at 10:30. There wasn’t a choice. The hot part said ‘chicken balsamic sauce’ with a wheat allergen warning underneath. Then there was a wee lettuce, tomato and cheese salad with a balsamic vinaigrette sachet, roll n butter, cheese n crackers, and a brookie bar for dessert. I liked that it came with a wee bottle of water which was really cold.

The chicken thing was nice enough. The sauce just tasted chickeny, not balsamic. Kieran wasn’t a fan as soon as he saw the mushrooms, the other 3 of us enjoyed it.

They came straight behind the meal cart with complimentary drinks. Orange juice, wine, soft drink cans and beer cans like bud light and goose island.

There were plenty of films to choose from with a normal headphone adapter. They came round and handed out complimentary headphones to anyone who needed them.

I watched House Of Gucci. I love Lady Gaga. Even more since the Oscar’s with Liza Minnelli. Such a nice person.

At 11:14 the complimentary drinks cart came around again and I had another white wine. Kevin had a beer. The kids had 2 more soft drinks

They were really strict at enforcing the masks, repeatedly announcing that you could only lower your mask when ACTIVELY eating or drinking, and the air hostesses would stop anytime they were passing someone who had left it down between sips. It was the same folk being told over and over. I get that some people disagree with the masks, but if you chose to fly on a flight where it was made clear it was mandatory then just do it eh? Why make it harder for the crew? It’s not their rules.

1pm they served pretzels with either water or orange juice

We were due to land at 12:35 but I noticed on the flight info it was predicting 11:40 local time. I hoped this was right as it would our right connection time a bit easier if it was true.

Hannah slept most of the flight on and off which is good, as she needs the most sleep out of all of us. I was hoping this meant she would be comfortable when we reached Orlando.

I then watched King Richard (obviously down in my estimation since the Oscar’s which is a shame as I always thought he was a better man than that). No denying it’s a good film and a very good performance.

3:25pm they served this

which tasted a lot like veggie pizza. It was yummy.

The drinks trolley came round again but we declined alcohol this time in favour of water and Diet Coke

They announced they’d ran out of customs forms to complete on the plane so to collect one in the customs hall.

Just before 4pm the seat back screen showed a message that we could now access connecting gate information on the my flight bit of the ife. Sure enough when I clicked it I could see the flight and which gate we would be heading to. Impressed.

Switching to USA time now - We landed at 11:40, a whole 55 minutes ahead of schedule. Brilliant. We were in row 34 right up the back but due to the early landing I wasn’t in such a panic about getting off and our connection time. They then announced we had to wait 10 minutes before we could taxi onto the stand and let us off as customs only open on the hour!

Of course all these muppets start getting up and opening overhead lockers which meant they had to keep announcing that everyone had to remain seated, seatbelts fastened or they would not be able to move the aircraft when it WAS time. Honestly. Some folk.

While sitting I got an alert from AA confirming the same gate details as shown on the flight.

We moved forward at 12 and started disembarking. Our row disembarked at 12:10. Walked smartly to customs, grabbed a customs form and filled it in in the queue. Got through customs by 12:58.

Out to the baggage carousel and our cases were all there on the belt. We walked through following the signs to connecting flights and just after this door below….

We handed the bags over and onto a baggage carousel. They checked where we were going and that all 4 cases had the MCO luggage label still on that had been applied in Heathrow.

Then it was wee short corridor to the gate

We got to the next gate at 13:20 so 68 minutes before our next flight leaves. But given we landed 55 minutes early our original connection would’ve been helluva tight! Not doing that again. Especially as we are essentially 4 adults moving at a decent pace and fairly savvy through customs & security etc. For a younger family our original connection time would have been scary. I get that AA would have arranged us onto a later flight had we missed it, but who needs that?

Loo breaks and waited to be called

Boarded at 14:10

AA Captain announced the flight would be 2hrs 3mins whereas it was originally meant to be 2hrs 35mins.

Took off at 2:35pm

No backseat ife on this wee domestic flight but very simple to watch on a device via the Aa inflight wifi

and again loads of films available. By the time I bothered to look we were 20 minutes into the flight so I wouldn’t have time to watch a whole film anyway.

So I decided to just read my kindle.

At 3:20pm they served complimentary soft drinks so I had apple juice and the others had Diet Coke cans.

Flight passed really quickly and we landed at 4:40pm. We were off the flight and on the monorail by 4:55.

At baggage claim by 5pm. So nice to walk straight through at Orlando with no customs!

The cases came quickly then Kevin and the kids headed over to the Alamo garage to pick a car as he had done skip the counter.

I started the trek over to terminal A to get the visitor toll pass as there is still no collection at B. Very simple to open the app and scan it at the machine to collect the pass.

By the time I got back he was trying to choose between a Jeep Grand Cherokee and a highlander. We went with the Cherokee as we’ve had that before and it was fine. I was less sure about him taking a highlander that we’ve never had or heard of Anyones experience driving it.

We hung the toll pass from the mirror, drove to the exit, scanned the skip the counter, prepaid the petrol and off we went.

One other plus with this car is it has CarPlay. So we can just program waze which we use all the time, plug the phone in and away we go

We reached the Rosen Inn International on I-drive at just after 6pm and checked in to our room.

The boys decided to go for a walk around while Hannah and I just relaxed and freshened up. We just have 1 night here so no need to unpack. Just took out the packing cubes for tonight and took the stuff out of those.

That travel day was actually a complete doddle BUT only because we were very lucky that the london to Philadelphia flight landed 55 minutes early. Otherwise that connection could’ve been a nightmare. We were very lucky all day actually. Every single thing went like clockwork. We are Tired - but not much more tired than our normal travel we don’t think. I’m a bit more tired than the others but I know that’s because I’m still not 100% back to normal yet.

The boys came back and we decided we better get something to eat. I really wasn’t hungry at all as I feel I’ve eaten and drank all day. Kevin was getting hangry again and there was some argy bargying about where to go. We eventually decided on BJs Brewhouse as it was only a 5 minute walk away and there was a Walgreens next door to pick up some water n stuff for the room afterwards.

We were told it would be a 20 minute wait so left Kevin’s number for a text and took a seat outside. Well 3 of us did. Kevin started stoating down the street looking at other places coming back to say there was a Mexican further down. Not sure if he expected us to up n leave to there instead but he was given short shrift. We eventually got a table after 35 minutes.

Then the food took another 25-30 minutes so we were all completely wilted by the time it came. Although we had to admit everything was very tasty.

Kevin and Hannah shared a large pizza done margarita for Hannah and ‘great white’ which was a garlicky chicken n mushroom for Kevin.

It was massive and they couldn’t finish it but both said it was amazing

Kieran had a bacon cheeseburger

And I had boneless wings in garlic and Parmesan.

These tasted SO good. Everyone else sampled them and agreed. Very garlicky. I will be reeking tomorrow!

She didn’t charge us for drinks due to the slow service so the bill was less than $50.

Stopped into Walgreens for a few bottles of water before back to the hotel.

Our bodies now thought it was 3am and I was too gubbed to upload the trippie. So off to bed it was, knowing I would probably wake up at stupid o’clock.

And here I am right enough. 3am my time, 8am yours, uploading the trippie in the dark while the others snore around me. Apart from Kieran who has been talking in his sleep all night, and still is.

Thankfully having done half an hr doing this I feel I might be able to go back to bed for a bit before the 5am alarms go off. Fingers crossed I can sleep a wee bit more!

See more...

AWESOME!

So glad your travel day went well!

Awesome pictures and so much detail, already loooooving the trip report.

Hope you all have an amazing time - well deserved

D x

[ILoveDaveLamb]

So lovely to read about your smooth travel day and to follow along every day. Feel as if you are taking a few hundred Dibbers along with you. Love the new bag! X

[Disney_time]

A great smooth travel day! Some nice touches from AA - cold water bottles! BA have never heard of that! We've flown AA once before and we even had ice cream sundaes. Methinks it's time to look at them again. Also really liked the connecting flights screen on your TVs - really handy.

[cornishfrogboy]

A great start, Helen.

Particularly liked the Airport detail as we are unusually unsure of that in these present times!

[mick]

Great travel day lucky with the early arrival of your first flight!
Joan

[margyloveswdw]

Great travel day and so stress free!

Have a great first day!

[ClaireNJ]

Originally Posted by scottishnellie

I didn’t sleep too well as Kevin snored all night. He’s not usually too bad but I think because I was already nervous about tomorrow it didn’t take much to keep me awake at times. Although I must admit Danny’s call had definitely made a big difference to how uneasy I was.

Despite Danny reassuring me about the queues, where to go, what was needed, etc I still planned to be there more than 3 hours before our 9:30 flight just to be sure. I’d rather have time to kill in the airport than before in a panic.

Alarms off at 4:50. Jumped in the shower, got ready, phoned the kids to check they were up and running on time which they were. We left the rooms at 5:30 to walk to T3.

I was following Stanleycamels excellent directions (previously posted on another thread) to walk from Hilton Garden Inn T2 to Terminal 3. It was a doddle. I’m just going to reuse those exact directions here and add a few photos in for those that wanted to know the route.

come out of the hotel,

walk across the car park and you will come across the covered concourse at the entrance to T2.

Turn LEFT and find the lift banks that specifically say Underground/Heathrow Express as not all sets go there.

go to level -1 underground level

On exiting the lifts you turn right and it is about 5 minutes walk to where the Underground entrance is.

Keep going straight on and you will find some travelators here eventually going past the entrance to Heathrow Express and continue towards T3

there is an area that divides into Arrivals and Departures for T3 and taking the departure route you will come to a set of lifts

which will take you up to the outside of T3 (covered)

We left at 5:35 and entered T3 at 5:47 so took us 12 minutes but we do walk at a fairly brisk pace. All 4 of us do just walk quite pacy. When I’m out with my bestie, (Disneydianne) she’s always trying to get me to slow down! Apart from when when we went to C2C and I was post covid. She was practically carrying me along then. Sorry Di!

Found American Airlines man who explained they were currently checking in the Chicago flight, so to join a queue just across the way and once Chicago was cleared we would be checked in. We only stood a few minutes and it moved forward.

Exactly as Danny had told me, the AA man wanted to see our verifly was completed on my phone, and also wanted to check our covid test certificates before he would even let us enter the line to check in. Took me seconds to whip out our paper copies of the tests and we got waved past a family where the mum was trying to access them all on her phone. Go old school people. Paper!

By 6am check in was done. She told us we would need to collect our bags at Philadelphia, then drop them again at the AA belt for connecting flights, before making our way to the next gate.

Next step was security which was the thing i had been most worried about. No need. We only waited a few minutes to go through. I got the body scan and pat down because I bleeped but I think it was because of the sparkly and metal bits on my jeans.

By 6:15am security was done and we were in the shops. Can’t believe how simple it all was! We were so lucky. I dropped Danny a wee message to say thanks for phoning me and that he had been right about everything. So kind of him. Funny when you have folk like that. We were pals at school but have barely bumped into each other a few times since school for the odd drink, but yet when I speak to him he’s the same old Danny, like no time has passed, you know? I just love that. I definitely owe him a pint.

The boys disappeared to find a seat while Hannah and I had a good browse round.

I also messaged my dad as I knew he would be worried about us getting through after all the new stories.

I bought myself some perfume as I usually wear Good Girl at the moment coz Kevin loves it, but it’s a bit heavy for sunny days. This is very light and fresh - Eternity Summer Daze. I also got Kevin some Cool Water. I know it’s ancient, and maybe a bit naff, but I love how clean it smells. And I got a wee hand cream. I love a really nice smelling hand cream. Can lift my whole mood! I’m like that with scents.

We found the boys and sat for a while then the kids went off to get something for breakfast. Neither WH Smith’s nor Boots had their sandwich delivery in yet so they went to cafe Nero for bacon rolls and a pastry, bringing me back a latte which I had with a few malt biscuits I had with me.

Kevin wasn’t sure what he wanted yet so he told them not to get him anything. However, Hannah and I were sure that he now NEEDED something to eat as he was getting well grumpy. Eventually he went off and came back with some juice and a sandwich. Once he ate that he was fine again. Hangry man.

We’re not really ‘sit in for a big cooked breakfast’ type folk. We don’t eat big breakfasts at home either. Probably just as well as it was very busy with great big queues to get into the sit in venues.

I sent the kids off again to buy a sandwich for in their bags incase the meal on the plane was rubbish. I don’t need hangry teenagers as well. They got a couple of things from pret a manger.

Hannah set about downloading Bridgerton to the ipad for me to watch. She’s already binged the whole series and is raging that she can’t talk to me about it as I’ve not seen it yet. I might watch on the plane if no films I want.

I had taken the advice of Peko and downloaded the AA app which was great for giving me alerts that the flight was expected to be on time and telling me which gate to go to when it opened. No jumping up the check the boards but I did notice I got those alerts before the boards even updated.

At 8:20 we made our way through to the gate.

8:45 They started boarding in groups according to the number on your boarding pass

8:56 our group was called. The flight was completely full and there wasn’t much room in the overhead lockers by the time we got on.

Thankfully we only have our bags to go under the seat in front so it wasn’t an issue for us. I had bought myself a Mia Tui bag thanks to a number of ladies mentioning it on a thread about travel bags. I love it. All the wee compartments appeal to my organising nature.

L

I love that it comes with a wee cross body bag for passport, phone & purse.

AA had allocated our seats when we booked and they had never changed. We had 2 seats with 2 across the aisle. There was a wee package with a blanket and pillow on each seat.

At 9:31 we started to taxi to the runway and by 9:40 we were up. The kids were lucky as nobody sat in the window seat next to them so they were able to spread out. Kieran, always the gentleman, gave his sister the window seat.

Meals came out at 10:30. There wasn’t a choice. The hot part said ‘chicken balsamic sauce’ with a wheat allergen warning underneath. Then there was a wee lettuce, tomato and cheese salad with a balsamic vinaigrette sachet, roll n butter, cheese n crackers, and a brookie bar for dessert. I liked that it came with a wee bottle of water which was really cold.

The chicken thing was nice enough. The sauce just tasted chickeny, not balsamic. Kieran wasn’t a fan as soon as he saw the mushrooms, the other 3 of us enjoyed it.

They came straight behind the meal cart with complimentary drinks. Orange juice, wine, soft drink cans and beer cans like bud light and goose island.

There were plenty of films to choose from with a normal headphone adapter. They came round and handed out complimentary headphones to anyone who needed them.

I watched House Of Gucci. I love Lady Gaga. Even more since the Oscar’s with Liza Minnelli. Such a nice person.

At 11:14 the complimentary drinks cart came around again and I had another white wine. Kevin had a beer. The kids had 2 more soft drinks

They were really strict at enforcing the masks, repeatedly announcing that you could only lower your mask when ACTIVELY eating or drinking, and the air hostesses would stop anytime they were passing someone who had left it down between sips. It was the same folk being told over and over. I get that some people disagree with the masks, but if you chose to fly on a flight where it was made clear it was mandatory then just do it eh? Why make it harder for the crew? It’s not their rules.

1pm they served pretzels with either water or orange juice

We were due to land at 12:35 but I noticed on the flight info it was predicting 11:40 local time. I hoped this was right as it would our right connection time a bit easier if it was true.

Hannah slept most of the flight on and off which is good, as she needs the most sleep out of all of us. I was hoping this meant she would be comfortable when we reached Orlando.

I then watched King Richard (obviously down in my estimation since the Oscar’s which is a shame as I always thought he was a better man than that). No denying it’s a good film and a very good performance.

3:25pm they served this

which tasted a lot like veggie pizza. It was yummy.

The drinks trolley came round again but we declined alcohol this time in favour of water and Diet Coke

They announced they’d ran out of customs forms to complete on the plane so to collect one in the customs hall.

Just before 4pm the seat back screen showed a message that we could now access connecting gate information on the my flight bit of the ife. Sure enough when I clicked it I could see the flight and which gate we would be heading to. Impressed.

Switching to USA time now - We landed at 11:40, a whole 55 minutes ahead of schedule. Brilliant. We were in row 34 right up the back but due to the early landing I wasn’t in such a panic about getting off and our connection time. They then announced we had to wait 10 minutes before we could taxi onto the stand and let us off as customs only open on the hour!

Of course all these muppets start getting up and opening overhead lockers which meant they had to keep announcing that everyone had to remain seated, seatbelts fastened or they would not be able to move the aircraft when it WAS time. Honestly. Some folk.

While sitting I got an alert from AA confirming the same gate details as shown on the flight.

We moved forward at 12 and started disembarking. Our row disembarked at 12:10. Walked smartly to customs, grabbed a customs form and filled it in in the queue. Got through customs by 12:58.

Out to the baggage carousel and our cases were all there on the belt. We walked through following the signs to connecting flights and just after this door below….

We handed the bags over and onto a baggage carousel. They checked where we were going and that all 4 cases had the MCO luggage label still on that had been applied in Heathrow.

Then it was wee short corridor to the gate

We got to the next gate at 13:20 so 68 minutes before our next flight leaves. But given we landed 55 minutes early our original connection would’ve been helluva tight! Not doing that again. Especially as we are essentially 4 adults moving at a decent pace and fairly savvy through customs & security etc. For a younger family our original connection time would have been scary. I get that AA would have arranged us onto a later flight had we missed it, but who needs that?

Loo breaks and waited to be called

Boarded at 14:10

AA Captain announced the flight would be 2hrs 3mins whereas it was originally meant to be 2hrs 35mins.

Took off at 2:35pm

No backseat ife on this wee domestic flight but very simple to watch on a device via the Aa inflight wifi

and again loads of films available. By the time I bothered to look we were 20 minutes into the flight so I wouldn’t have time to watch a whole film anyway.

So I decided to just read my kindle.

At 3:20pm they served complimentary soft drinks so I had apple juice and the others had Diet Coke cans.

Flight passed really quickly and we landed at 4:40pm. We were off the flight and on the monorail by 4:55.

At baggage claim by 5pm. So nice to walk straight through at Orlando with no customs!

The cases came quickly then Kevin and the kids headed over to the Alamo garage to pick a car as he had done skip the counter.

I started the trek over to terminal A to get the visitor toll pass as there is still no collection at B. Very simple to open the app and scan it at the machine to collect the pass.

By the time I got back he was trying to choose between a Jeep Grand Cherokee and a highlander. We went with the Cherokee as we’ve had that before and it was fine. I was less sure about him taking a highlander that we’ve never had or heard of Anyones experience driving it.

We hung the toll pass from the mirror, drove to the exit, scanned the skip the counter, prepaid the petrol and off we went.

One other plus with this car is it has CarPlay. So we can just program waze which we use all the time, plug the phone in and away we go

We reached the Rosen Inn International on I-drive at just after 6pm and checked in to our room.

The boys decided to go for a walk around while Hannah and I just relaxed and freshened up. We just have 1 night here so no need to unpack. Just took out the packing cubes for tonight and took the stuff out of those.

That travel day was actually a complete doddle BUT only because we were very lucky that the london to Philadelphia flight landed 55 minutes early. Otherwise that connection could’ve been a nightmare. We were very lucky all day actually. Every single thing went like clockwork. We are Tired - but not much more tired than our normal travel we don’t think. I’m a bit more tired than the others but I know that’s because I’m still not 100% back to normal yet.

The boys came back and we decided we better get something to eat. I really wasn’t hungry at all as I feel I’ve eaten and drank all day. Kevin was getting hangry again and there was some argy bargying about where to go. We eventually decided on BJs Brewhouse as it was only a 5 minute walk away and there was a Walgreens next door to pick up some water n stuff for the room afterwards.

We were told it would be a 20 minute wait so left Kevin’s number for a text and took a seat outside. Well 3 of us did. Kevin started stoating down the street looking at other places coming back to say there was a Mexican further down. Not sure if he expected us to up n leave to there instead but he was given short shrift. We eventually got a table after 35 minutes.

Then the food took another 25-30 minutes so we were all completely wilted by the time it came. Although we had to admit everything was very tasty.

Kevin and Hannah shared a large pizza done margarita for Hannah and ‘great white’ which was a garlicky chicken n mushroom for Kevin.

It was massive and they couldn’t finish it but both said it was amazing

Kieran had a bacon cheeseburger

And I had boneless wings in garlic and Parmesan.

These tasted SO good. Everyone else sampled them and agreed. Very garlicky. I will be reeking tomorrow!

She didn’t charge us for drinks due to the slow service so the bill was less than $50.

Stopped into Walgreens for a few bottles of water before back to the hotel.

Our bodies now thought it was 3am and I was too gubbed to upload the trippie. So off to bed it was, knowing I would probably wake up at stupid o’clock.

And here I am right enough. 3am my time, 8am yours, uploading the trippie in the dark while the others snore around me. Apart from Kieran who has been talking in his sleep all night, and still is.

Thankfully having done half an hr doing this I feel I might be able to go back to bed for a bit before the 5am alarms go off. Fingers crossed I can sleep a wee bit more!

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So glad your travel day went so smoothly
Have a brilliant holiday 😎🇺🇸
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