The “We aren’t going to Florida again for a long time!” Trip Day 1

We were awake at 0630, got up and showered before breakfast downstairs (included).

We started off toward Bay Lake at about 0930.

The journey was a little stop start in places but we arrived at BLT just before 11.

We checked in and dropped off our bags before heading to Disney Springs.

We got lunch at Earl of Sandwich and visited a few stores. 

I got this tree ornament and Rob got himself a ‘grumpy’ magicband+

We got our ‘room ready’ email so popped to Walmart to buy food.

We took our shopping back and collected our luggage. 

We then went in search of the gym as we have never been before….we will see if we do this time.

We made dinner, which was cheese and ham sandwiches with crisps and I had a really great chocolate mousse.

Watched some tv and then a massive thunderstorm from our balcony / room.

The “We aren’t going to Florida again for a long time!” Trip - Travel Day

We set an 0730 alarm, got ready and went to breakfast downstairs. 

This was included as gold members, it wasn’t amazing but was good enough.

We left our room around 0930 and were through security by 10.

Next up we ran the gauntlet of perfume shops and had a quick look in the normal shops on the other side.

With nothing purchased I got a pumpkin spice latte and Rob got a cold drink and we found seats to wait.

Gate 17 was announced at 1115, we walked there which took about 10 mins.

We then waited 20 mins as there was an issue with a man at the front of our queue.

We were scheduled to leave at 1225 but that wasn’t going to happen as people were still being checked.

But at 1210 they announced there was an issue and the Captain had requested engineers.

A few mins later he came out to tell us there was an issue with the navigation system and he was waiting for the engineer to upload something and to make sure it would be safe for the trip…..

There was an anxious wait and at 1315 I decided to go to the ladies as normally that means something happens (in life generally, that is), I came back and boarding had been announced! 

We got on board and had to wait for refuelling to complete, felt like it took forever but we finally took off just before 1500. 

Lunch was served at about 1600, we were getting hungry as we hadn’t got any lunch before we boarded because we were in the gate area waiting.

There was only the vegetarian option left when it got to us (we were at the rear of economy) and the man sat next to us made his wife give him the last chicken 🤦

I warmed my roll and butter on the hot meal 🤣

The flight felt long, we got ice cream at about 8pm (uk time) which was nice.

Then just before landing we had the most awful wraps. We both took one bite and decided against it.

I watched 3 movies: Avatar - World of Water, New Little Mermaid and Whitney Houston.

I enjoyed the Little Mermaid more than I thought I would and the Whitney movie was really interesting.

We landed at 1930 local time and were off quickly. Global entry was amazing, we had to look at the machine no passport scan or anything.

The immigration officer checked our names asked why we were visiting. We didn’t have to show our passports at all. 

Bags took a few mins then we collected our car and were on our way.

We had a slight sat nav related detour but not too bad.

We got Arby’s for dinner and went to bed at 2200.

The “We aren’t going to Florida again for a long time!” Trip Pre-travel day

Pre-travel day

Started at 0630 with my peloton workouts. I’ve got into a routine and don’t like to break the habit!

Showered and off to get my hair done at 0830 so I was holiday ready.

We went and got breakfast

Before going to visit Rob’s mum and dad.

We spent the next few hours cleaning, washing and then finally packing 

Before leaving the house at about 4pm

The journey was fine apart from slow traffic past Stonehenge where lots of people were doing this:

As someone that drives this route regularly for work it drives me mad 😡 

After a brief stop at Fleet to grab a snack we arrived at the long stay car park at 1850.

We were quickly across to the terminal where we did twilight check in with BA.

We checked into the Hilton and sadly didn’t get our usual gold upgrade 

We got Greggs for dinner then watched tv. 

Oh and we saw Paul Merton and his wife Suki while we were wandering around 😁

Flight home

We drove the short distance to Philadelphia airport, avoiding any traffic issues.

We arrived at Avis and dropped off the monster car before taking the bus to the terminal.

Check in was quick and easy and while we had to wait in a short line for security our TSA pre check meant we kept our shoes on. 

Our cricut bag went through with no issues but the snack bag sadly had to undergo extra screening. Apparently cookies are a major threat to security 😎

We then walked a long way to the Earl of Sandwich (Rob moaned the whole way) where Rob got an Earl’s club and I had a ham and swiss (with mayo) except there was no ham. 

So instead they made me a mix of Italian meat plus cheese and mayo. They also said there was no white bread and you will see that Rob ended up with wheat bread….mine appeared white though 🤣

We walked the long way back to terminal A to wait for our flight to board, Rob did check duty free for some tequila but didn’t find what he was looking for.

We boarded on time although the process was a bit of a rush.

We had people still in the aisle as we were taxiing which was very odd and I’m still not sure why it was such a rush.

The freezing air started pretty early - perhaps it is preparation for the return to the UK? I was pretty cold throughout the flight once again 

The flight was quiet and uneventful until we heard someone shouting “oh my god” repeatedly with about 2hr45 before the end.

Someone had fallen over in the aisle on the other side of the aircraft, several people assisted the crew in providing medical attention. 

We aren’t sure what happened but after a little while she was up on her feet and being taken towards the front of the aircraft.

At this point we realised there was a little dog onboard, in the same row as us with a family of three. We didn’t even know it was there! 

At this point neither of us could sleep so Rob watched Maverick (I think) and I played games whilst hiding under my blanket.

They served some weird egg bun thing for breakfast. I decided against it but Rob ate it, he survived but it wasn’t great.

We landed just before 7am but had to get a bus to the terminal (and it was raining) so it was about 7.30 before we got there.

Luckily we flew through the e-gates and our bags were really quick too which makes a change.

We walked across to the Sofitel and we were in our way out in just a few minutes - this was really convenient.

We stopped to charge the car at Fleet and I got a coffee and a brownie; Rob had a muffin.

We arrived home with no energy panics at about 1030 where I found a friend had sent me cake in the mail 😍