New with lots of questions, please humour me!

[SilentK]

Hi,

I've been lurking on here for a while and found everyone friendly and helpful so thought it time I got stuck in!

I am flying from London Gatwick to Disney with BA on 13 December this year for my honeymoon, staying at Pop Century for 7 days and am looking for some advice.

I am thinking of booking the Servisair Lounge as a surprise for my hubby to be. Has anyone been? Also what time do you recommend I book it for, our flight is 10:40?

Has anyone used the online check in with BA? What time do you have to arrive at the airport?

Can anyone tell me what sort of food is served/ available during the flight?

Also what clothes would you advise I take for December?

Sorry to bombard you, I thought this better than flooding the forum with new silly threads! Thanks for your help.

 

[2Tiggies]

First things first: WELCOME!!!

I can't help on the December info as I have never been in December but I will answer what I can for you.

All lounges are different and I have never used the Gatwick one but if you google airport lounges and pull up Gatwick you should get a full breakdown of services offered as well as some pictures. You can book them online or by phone and it is best done in advance. Some operate seasonally so check it out first. You can usually book your lounge from 3 hours prior to your departure time. Again, this can vary but you should be able to get that from the website.

I have done BA online check in. Very straightforward and I do recommend this, especially if the alternative is airport self check in as those machines at the airport never work for me but there is always someone there to assist if you run into problems. You can check in online from 24 hours before departure and print your boarding passes too. When you get to the airport, look for the signs for the bag drop for your flight. They check your bags and may/may not issue their own boarding passes (varies from one airline to the next) and you can go relax and have a coffee or go straight through security, which you would want to do to utilise your lounge.

 

[Pegasus928]

Hi - and Welcome to the Dis

Unfortunately as I have never stayed on site, never flown BA - or from Gatwick - and have never been in December I am pretty useless to you.

But as you have probably seen whilst lurking there are plenty of people who know are more than willing to help so feel free to ask all the questions you need.

 

[UKDEB]

Congratulations on making the move from Lurksville, SK.

There's a current thread here about flying BA from Gatwick, including a discussion about their Twilight Check-in service. You'll be served a full lunch within an hour or so after take-off (typically a small salad, choice of 3 hot mains, bread roll, small dessert, cheese and crackers and your choice of soft or alcoholic beverages), plus a sandwich and fruit or cake shortly before landing.

It's a fair few years since we've used the Servisair lounge. Assuming it hasn't changed, I'd say it's a pleasant enough environment, but not what you'd describe as swanky. After karentan posted photos of the No 1 Lounge, I booked that for my daughter and her boyfriend for their trip last September. If I needed to book a Gatwick lounge right now, I'd choose that over Servisair.

You'll need to pack for all eventualities in December as the weather can be unpredictable. We've experienced temperatures in the 80s and very cold snaps in the same trip. Frosts aren't unheard of. Even if you're really lucky and have great weather the entire time you're there, what you won't have are those balmy Florida evenings. We've been several times in the winter months and we've never taken a coat, although that's not to say it doesn't ever get cold enough to need one.

 

[catherine]

First of all welcome to the DIS

I've never flown to FL with BA or flown from Gatwick, so I can't help you there. I have however been to WDW several times in Dec. We usually go from the 1st - 15th and have always found the weather to be very variable, so we always take a whole assortment of clothes: shorts t-shirts, jeans, fleece etc. The best thing to do is take clothes that you can layer. You will find that while it can get pretty warm during the day it can be cold first thing in the morning and at night. We also take gloves and scarves and have needed them on several occassions

 

[wayneg]

Welcome

We went into AirFrance lounge, Manchester last August and will be again this year as its included with our tix but its not something I would pay for, we prefer to arrive at airport late, around 90 mins to departure, just enough time to get thru immigration and almost ready to board. If you prefer to get to airport early and want somewhere away from the crowds then maybe worth paying for.

Clothes in Dec as others have said temps can be anything from freezing point upto 80 degs. Take everything from shorts & Tshirts to hats, scaves & gloves. 1st time we went in Dec we had to de-ice the car most mornings, last time (Dec 08) perfect weather, you can't know so take everything.

 

[Disneymad]

Welcome to the DIS!

Can't help with any questions bar the December weather one. As has been mentioned it can be variable and I can't stress enough that when it's said that it's cold, that's not "oh I'm in a tropical climate and it's cold because it's only 18 degree's today" - it's proper grown up cold, just like it would be in the UK at that time of year.

It can be very 'snap' weather. We were there once where we were in t-shirts and shorts one day and it was literally freezing the next. I remember we had a chat with a very nice (but tired) bus driver the next morning who'd had to come in overnight to look after the buses because it was the first cold snap of the winter and they'd been caught a bit by surprise - the buses hadn't had their anti-freeze put in yet so they basically kept the engines running all night to ensure that they wouldn't have any issues in the morning.

 

[dixonsontour]

Can help with the December weather, been twice in December.

Take a range of clothes and things that can be layered.

Weather can be mixed - warm like our summer then cooler more like our spring. Occassionally a real cold spell.

Very low rain fall though.

Most days I wore 3/4 jeans or linen pants, t shirt and a hoody - as they day warmed up ditching the hoody. Night time jeans and a fleece. Hubbie (hardy northern male) wore shorts throughout.

Good thing about the weather is you can get so much done - in the heat it zaps your energy

 

[PJB71]

Hi

I can help with a few of your questions

Only flown from Manchester as thats our local airport (so not flown to Orlando on BA), but always use the lounge in Manchester and would definately recommend it

Have been going to Florida at Christmas for the last (think it's 8 years!)

Usually the weather is lovely, a little warmer than a nice "Summers Day" in the UK (Although its hard to remember what one of those was like!), although we have had 2 relatively cold winters (Dec just gone and think it was about 6years ago), but nothing like the cold spells we get here

Dont worry about the amount of questions, everyone is always more than happy to help

 

[SilentK]

Hey everyone,

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back on here. My other half is driving me nuts! I ordered him a wedding present and he went online and spotted it, now wants to buy it himself! Then he snuck up behind me and asked what I was doing when I was looking at the airport lounge! Nightmare! So I've had to wait until he's not around to post again.

Thank you so much for your replies, it's been really helpful. I'm so glad you clarified the weather thing - a couple of friends told me not to be silly and I'd only need shorts!

Also many thanks for the feedback on the lounges. I'm pretty sure I'm going to book one. I wouldn't usually bother but I want things to be nice for our honeymoon and unless our numbers come up this week we can't afford to upgrade seats or get a really nice hotel so that seems like the next best thing. I'm also hoping to organise an in room decoration via the disney florist. Although that's more for me because he wouldn't take the initiative to do something like that haha!

 

[scojos]

because he wouldn't take the initiative to do something like that haha!

lots of us woman who organise nice things for ourselves as the men in our lives have no imagination
oh, and welcome

tracy

 

[disneyholic family]

 

[Disneymad]

Although that's more for me because he wouldn't take the initiative to do something like that haha!

Hee! I think there's a few of us here who can relate to that

 

[kristieuk]

Hi, and congratulations to you!

BA fliy out from Gatwick from the North Terminal. You don't mention of you are staying the night before so I guess not. I think you just have to be at the gate an hour before the flight if you have checked in online and have your boarding cards, but bear in mind you will have to do the bag drop and get through security which can sometimes be busy.

With regards to the lounge, the Servisair lounge is ok, but as mentioned it is nothing special, and all you really get for your money are drinks and little snacks. If it is something you definitely want to do, obviously go for it, but your flight is pretty early and I wonder whether you would get your money's worth?

I think BA have upgraded all of their flights now so the seat back entertainment is much better, you can choose your film from a huge choice, pause, rewind etc. All of the drinks are complimentary inc alcohol. Food is pretty standard airline fayre, nothing great.


Other than that. would repeat what others have said about the weather, it is the one time of year it can be so hot, and then suddenly a cold snap comes in - and it is cold cold. Usually a sweathshirt and jeans would suffice though, and you may well be lucky!

Good luck with all of your planning, as you can probably tell, you can get an answer to pretty much anything here!