Travel Day ~ Are We Going To Mickey Mouse World Mummy? ~ 27th Oct 18

[caitlinsmummy]

Find the previous day HERE

So this trip consisted of:

Myself (Kelly) - Chief planner and organiser ... none of the trip would have happened without me

Husband (Chris) - The laid back photographer one ... I guess it wouldn't have happened without him paying for it so I have to give him some recognition there

Caitlin (Turned 12 when we were out there) - total drama llama and pre teen one.

Thomas (9) - the cheeky brain box one.

Noah (5) - the cute one (He was recently diagnosed as autistic, so it was a big challenge for us all to ensure we kept meltdowns to a minimum)


Travel Day

Plan was pretty straight forward for today ... get to Florida!

Alarm set for 7.30am but me and Thomas were up from 6.30. We got changed and cleared out the room and headed over to the others room. I sorted out the kid’s snack boxes (which in hindsight was totally pointless!)

I got the rest up and ready and went down for breakfast at 8.15am. Now the original plan was to head to McDonalds for breakfast then to the airport. The Travelodge had breakfast for £8.50 per adult with up to 2 children free per person. This would work out as a similar price to McDonald's so we decided to eat here instead.

Again photos were sparse we do get better!

We paid the woman behind the counter who declared how much she loved T-Shirts and how she could guess where we were going. She had a bit of a chat with the kid's which kept them entertained whilst I paid. £17 for a family of 5's breakfast was awesome!

After breakfast we went to the rooms to check we had everything and go set the car up ... but not before we managed to snap this photo of our awesome T-Shirts

We packed up the car and headed to the airport for 9.30am. We dropped our car off with meet and greet and headed into the airport with Mr Grump whinging he had to pull 2 cases to the check in desks🙄 bearing in mind I had a backpack, my information folder (full of all our confirmations, passports etc) 2 of the travel pillows and pulling Noah along on his Trunki! Whilst ignoring the man child I headed to special assistance to get the hidden disabilities lanyard for Noah.

Very quick and easy process, the lady informed me that we can use this whenever we travel from now on. She instructed us to head to the premium check in desks at Virgin and to go through the Fast Track lane at security. She explained that this also applied when we landed in Orlando.

Last night I'd manage to check our seats when they'd been allocated (we'd requested special assistance). We had a 2, 2 and 1. We decided to see if we could have a 3 and a 2 otherwise it would mean either Chris or Caitlin sitting alone (Caitlin was freaking out!) We asked at check in and she stated the plane was full and that she would try and swap the seats of others as they came to check in. So we dropped the cases off then headed to security, whilst ticking off the things we had seen on Noah's booklet. This was printed off prior and was a big help. We could tick each area we had passed and Noah knew which area was coming up next and what would happen.

Security was rather quick although Noah was struggling to understand why the bags had to go through the scanner. I repeated what we’d already told him before we left and he relaxed a little. The security lady waved me and Noah through the side gate and not the machine which I was very grateful for as I could already see him starting to get overwhelmed.

Caitlin and Thomas both got patted down and searched which really amused me... Bad parent 😂

Once through security I headed to WHSmiths to get the kid's sandwiches for the plane. Chris and Caitlin went for a look round the shops whilst the boys completed some of their activity booklets. Chris returned and was talking about the bottle of vodka and how cheap it was.

Thomas and I then looked through duty free, I got a couple of new foundation samples from MAC and bought some Urban Decay foundation, I then grabbed a bottle of vodka for Mr Grump (bonus wife points for buying the vodka ... top wife!) We headed back to the others then went through to the terminal.

The kids watch for the airplanes out of the windows which they loved.

We were on the 12.45 flight and boarding opened at 11.45am. We popped to the gate and asked the staff if they'd managed to change our seats but sadly they couldn't but we could ask on board. We boarded at 11.50am. Mr Grump got selected for extra security I was secretly hoping they’d say ‘Stop sir your not allowed in 😂’ sadly they didn't me and the kids went ahead and got on the plane.

We spoke to a member of the cabin crew and again she informed us there was nothing they could do. She suggested Caitlin and Thomas sit together ...

Caitlin ... and Thomas ... TOGETHER ... I feel sorry for the poor person who gets sat next to them

The cabin crew manager had overheard our conversation and about Caitlin worrying, he came and told us the kids could go see the captain to distract them, so we took them up and they loved it.

The captain was lovely and reassured the kids.

Somehow I ended up sat with Noah and Caitlin and Thomas behind and Mr Grump across the aisle! Mr Grumps face now resembled something similar to this ...

Noah was getting nervous and asked for the sick bag thankfully he wasn’t actually sick. We had bulkhead seats with special assistance for Noah this means the TVs pull out of the seats. He couldn’t understand why he couldn’t have his TV on to fly when the rest of the family did. I explained several times but he wasn’t having it 🙄 I explained if the seat belt sign was on he needed his belt on and he loved sticking to this and telling everyone else they needed to put their belts on 👏 😂

I think we got set off on time, I haven't recorded timings. We got given a mini bag of pretzels about 30 minutes into the flight, along with a drink. I opted for Rose wine to be informed they only did white or red! I opted for white and a diet coke. Noah opted for water as he doesn't really drink fizzy pop.

Mr Grump opted for Vodka and coke

I have no idea what time the food came round but I imagine a couple of hours or so after we took off. There was a mix up with the kid's meals and for some reason even though we requested it, they didn't have a kid's meal for Caitlin. In a way it didn't really matter as we knew the kid's wouldn't eat them anyway! 🙄 They put together a kid's meal but with an adults pasta instead for her

Next up was the adults meals. This was the menu from the flight.

I opted for:

Creamy Tomato and Mozzarella Rigatoni Bake

It was nice enough, I didn't try the pasta salad as I don't like pesto but I do think it's a little strange having a pasta salad with pasta maybe it's just me? The GU Passionfruit cheesecake was lovely, not so much cheesecakey as a mousse?

Chris opted for:

Toulouse Sausages and Cherry Tomatoes

He said this was ok for plane food. That's about as much as you'll get off Chris for a food review

Next up they brought some masks round for the kid's the colour in.

I managed to watch 1 episode of celebrity hunted, I Feel Pretty and Life Of The Party (which I've seen previously and love!)

Noah was starting to get fed up so Chris took him for a walk around the plane to stretch his legs. When he returned they brought the ice creams out.

Now I'm disappointed in this. When we booked Virgin still did the mini fab lolly's, since then they had changed it to mini twister lolly's

Noah said he wanted one then as I was opening it he decided he didn't anymore 🙄 so I gave the hostess mine back and I begrudgingly ate Noah's.

Caitlin and Thomas complained they were hungry so we got their sandwiches down then all the kid's had some of their snack boxes before we put them away ... didn't want them too hyper on a plane!

Noah decided he was bored on me and wanted to sit with dad ... but he didn't want us to swap seats so he squeezed on Chris's knee and played some games on his phone

I got my crocheting out and sat for half an hour or so all chilled out before Noah came back.

Sandwiches were brought round. The kid's point blank refused, Chris ate his and I couldn't face mine, I just didn't feel hungry.

I'd got talking to the couple who were sat next to us/behind us (next to Caitlin and Thomas) They had 2 kid's who were both autistic and with learning difficulties, we had a good chat about the kid's and Disney and she gave us some lovely hints and tips on what we could do with the DAS when we're there. They were staying at POFQ.

I had 3 wines over the course of the flight If I remember rightly we landed on time at 4.40pm. We were through immigration within 15 minutes as we got sent to a different queue with the DAS pass, although the regular line didn't look too long anyway. I expected it being madness from some of the reports I'd seen!

We went and collected the luggage, the kid's were bickering and fighting with each other and Mr Grump was moaning that he couldn't push the trolley past a certain area, typically this was the moment the lovely MrsBC approached and asked if I was Caitlinsmummy she had recognised us from the kid's names on the t-shirts I think

Sadly she caught me at probably one of the worst possible moments where I was telling the kid's and Chris off, sweaty and stressed we said a quick hello then were on our way again. Another argument followed when Mr Grump thought it would be appropriate to try and take 3 cases and 1 hand luggage case up the escalators 🙄 holding everyone up. I told him we needed to use the lift.

Off we headed to the Magical Express with a stop at the restrooms along the way ... the kid's were fascinated with the automatic flushing toilets it's the small things!

We were in the queue for the Magical Express by 5.30pm ... YES! I was feeling very smug ... the kid's were feeling very tired and irritable and were constantly bickering and fighting with each other and winding each other up 🙄 trying to separate 3 kid's in a queue isn't easy by any means!

The queue was quite big. Once we got closer to the front we realised we were in the wrong queue! We'd wait almost 40 minutes by this point, this progressed into an argument as Mr Grump asked me why I didn't check properly before we got in the queue, then proceeded to say we should just queue jump to the right one ... ermmm, how about no! In the end we tagged onto the end of the correct Magical Express line. Noah laid on the floor with his travel cushion.

We didn't get on the bus till 6.39pm (according to the photos!)

We were finally relieved that it wouldn't be long now.

Chris sat with Noah, I sat with Thomas and Caitlin sat behind us. Within 5 minutes of setting off Noah was fast asleep We were informed that there would be 4 stops, Old Key West, another I can't remember, Port Orleans French Quarter then Port Orleans Riverside, typically we were last and could be up to another 75 minutes

I tried to get a photo of the sign ... I failed miserably

Thomas and I did the quizzes on the ME and watched some of the little shorts. We arrived a Riverside by 7.39pm. We couldn't wake Noah at all, poor bairn was zonked

We eventually managed to wake him, collect our cases and head to reception. Chris sat on the chairs with the kid's whilst I checked in. Noah went back to sleep

I asked to opt out of the mousekeeping for the $130 gift card, it was emailed to me immediately. We were given our bands and sent to Alligator Bayou building 24 in room 2443. I was really annoyed by this as I had requested a ground floor room in building 16 which is quite close to the food hall. As it happens building 24 is one of the furthest buildings from the food hall (a ten minute walk) but it was right next to the West Bus Depot.

Just before we set off to walk to the room, Caitlin and Thomas had a full on bust up resulting in them physically hitting each other Mad mam came out, I pulled Thomas outside and told him it wasn't acceptable at all whilst Chris dealt with Caitlin. We weren't too harsh on them as it was almost 1am at home so they were exhausted but they did need to know it wasn't acceptable at all.

We started walking to our room, we were walking through the food hall when Noah decided to just completely flop on the floor and refuse to move great choice of space kid 🙄 I managed to convince him to walk and we set off again. I did suggest collecting the refillable mugs right now but I was met by this face from Mr Grump

Off we went on our trek to our room that may as well have been in a complete other resort

We got in the room and settled the kids into bed. We had Thomas and Noah in the same bed and Caitlin in the pull down one

Noah was now full of beans after his few naps and wouldn't let Thomas settle. In the end we placed him in our bed instead. I asked Mr Grump if he wanted to go get the refillable drinks or unpack ... he opted to finish unpacking

So off I went on the walk back to the food court. I tried to get everyone different coloured mugs but there was only 4 different colours so Mr Grump and Drama Llama had blue cups, Noahs' pink, Thomas' red and mine purple.

I was feeling a little peckish so opted to get some chicken nuggets and fries to take back to the room, I remembered about swapping the drink for a snack but I didn't remember. I got to the till and the CM offered for me to get a snack ... I grabbed the first thing I could as I was holding up the queue ... it was a twix ... what a waste! I filled mine and Mr Grump's mugs up with soda and headed back to the room.

I got back at 9.15pm, Caitlin and Thomas were asleep, Noah was still awake in our bed 🙄 Chris and I snacked on the nuggets and fries as we finished the unpacking. I got Mr Grump to take a photo of our Universal Passes incase we misplaced them as I'd heard of it happening before.

Noah fell asleep around 9.45pm (2.45am at home). I fully expect everyone to wake early the next morning, me included. Chris and I got to bed around 10.15pm :zzz

Steps: 8,569 - left my phone when I walked back to the food court
Snacks: 0 USED - 140 LEFT
QS Credits:1 USED- 69 LEFT
TS Credits: 0 USED - 70 LEFT

[mick]

Glad your there hope tomorrow after a good nights sleep, everyone is ready for a great day


Joan

[GezzasGem]

Ah the joys of travelling with kids that are tired..😁 glad you all arrived safe and made it to your beds in one piece!

[MrsBC]

Great start - I've taken the lazy trippie way and started a photo report! We also saw you before boarding when DH picked up your husbands Ears - not stalking you though

[Goldia]

I love the matching t shirts! Mine flat out refuse to even consider family shirts. The travel day could have been a lot worse. A shame you weren't all sitting together on the flight, but it doesn't seem to have been too bad as you managed to fit in some wine and some tv!

The kids snack boxes looks cute, but it sounds like they didn't get so much use out of them in the end.

What a pain getting in the wrong line for the magical express. Still you made it to the resort and you had nuggets as your first meal which is a winner, even if you did have a twix as the snack (this auto corrected on my tablet to twit!).

I'm excited to see what you all get up to on your first park day. I hope you weren't up too early.

[Laura_<3]

Great start!

Not too bad of a travel day, your Magical Express journey and check-in at POR sounds similar to ours.

[caitlinsmummy]

Originally Posted by mick

Glad your there hope tomorrow after a good nights sleep, everyone is ready for a great day


Joan

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Thanks for reading Joan most of the family got a good nights sleep ... x

Originally Posted by GezzasGem

Ah the joys of travelling with kids that are tired..😁 glad you all arrived safe and made it to your beds in one piece!

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It's definitely an experience thanks for reading x

Originally Posted by MrsBC

Great start - I've taken the lazy trippie way and started a photo report! We also saw you before boarding when DH picked up your husbands Ears - not stalking you though

See more...

What a fab idea! You'll have to link me to it! We didn't even realise, to be honest I was so stressed I don't think I noticed anything that was around us x

Originally Posted by Goldia

I love the matching t shirts! Mine flat out refuse to even consider family shirts. The travel day could have been a lot worse. A shame you weren't all sitting together on the flight, but it doesn't seem to have been too bad as you managed to fit in some wine and some tv!

The kids snack boxes looks cute, but it sounds like they didn't get so much use out of them in the end.

What a pain getting in the wrong line for the magical express. Still you made it to the resort and you had nuggets as your first meal which is a winner, even if you did have a twix as the snack (this auto corrected on my tablet to twit!).

I'm excited to see what you all get up to on your first park day. I hope you weren't up too early.

See more...

Luckily the kids were ok with it, Chris point blank refused to start with but came round to the idea eventually

Yeah the snack boxes were a complete waste tbh, we probably won't even take them next year.

at the tablet, I certainly felt like a twit getting the twix I was so overwhelmed with everything and I was tired. I did get better with the swapping out part.

One was up super early, everyone else wasn't too bad ... hoping to get the first day posted today as I need to work on my assignments this weekend.

Thanks for reading x

Originally Posted by Laura_<3

Great start!

Not too bad of a travel day, your Magical Express journey and check-in at POR sounds similar to ours.

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Oh dear that doesn't sound like it was good then Laura but I suppose at least we all got there. Thanks for reading x

[Cinderella]

Great T-shirts👍

[caitlinsmummy]

Originally Posted by Cinderella

Great T-shirts👍

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Thank you, we got them from a FB seller and they've washed really well too Surprised I got Mr Grump to wear it as in my pre trippie he completely refused to xx

[minnie52]

Looking forward to reading along!

The snack boxes look fab - I would love one of those never mind the kids

Also what a brilliant idea about Noah's booklet so he could tick off what you had done and what you were doing next!

Travel day is always so tiring it's such a long way to travel for the kids - but so worth it for the holiday tho!