Finally I begin my trip report! (Sorry I couldn’t come up with a better title)
Cast members –
Dad – Our driver who just goes with the flow
Mam – Queen of shopping
Me – Planner/Worrier
Steven - My boyfriend of 4 and a half years (and despite him sitting next to me whilst posting this, I forgot to add his name in before I posted! oops)
Adam – My 18-year-old brother, the joker of the group
Amy – My 12-year-old sister, on a mission to meet Daisy Duck
Dates – Thursday 28th July – Thursday 11th August 2011
Location – AOA Silver Villas (booked with Thomson)
Day before we leave
Wednesday 27th July - I had a full day at work, still hadn’t packed as we had spent our days at the hospital (my aunty has been quite poorly) and with other. We went to the hospital for the final time before leaving and said our goodbyes. My aunty was doing so well, although there were still feelings of guilt and my Mam was wondering whether she was doing the right thing by going on holiday.
(We got regular updates whilst we were on holiday and she finally came out of hospital on Thursday just gone. She’s very weak still but is more settled at home.)
That night we got home at around 8.30pm. I had a quick shower and got the suitcase out. I had never felt so unprepared for a Florida holiday and panic was setting in. I don’t know how I didn’t forget to take anything!
I finally settled and got to sleep at around 3am.
Thursday 28th July 2011 – Travelling day
We all woke up at around 7am. Our fight was 11.50am with Thomson from Newcastle Airport.
At around 8am we had packed up the cars and were ready to go. Steven and I travelled in his car and followed my dad as we didn’t know how to get to the airport. Being the worrier that I am, every time another car pulled in between Steven’s and my dads, I got my phone out ready for the ‘we’re lost, help us’ call! Thankfully, that call wasn’t needed.
We had airport car parking, which was fantastic and me and Steven are going to do this again next year. It’s so much easier (and cheaper) than relying on a taxi, especially after the long flight back home 2 weeks later.
Check-in was quick and easy, we were all seated together and by around 9.30am we were sat in the departure lounge munching on bacon sarnies.
(Amy, me & Adam)
The time went by so quickly and a few hours later we were getting ready to board.
I was impressed with the Thomson plane. We were in economy and all had an individual TV and quite a bit of leg room.
(Steven - happy with his cans of Stella)
The flight went very smooth, apart from a tiny bit of turbulence which prompted a reaction from Amy like none of us have ever seen before. She was crying her eyes out and shouting she wanted to get off the plane! She calmed down after around 15 minutes but it was very scary seeing her so upset and panicky. We thought it may have been down to her blood levels, as she’s diabetic, but they were fine. She was just genuinely scared and I think this might have been the reason why she sat out of a lot of rides this holiday.
We finally landed in Sanford and encountered a long wait at immigration as another Thomson flight had landed not long before ours.
Fast forward around 1 hour, our bags had been taken off the belt for us (probably as we were one of the last groups to get through from the Newcastle flight) and we were on our way to get our villa details and our car.
We were allocated in Royal Palms villas in Davenport. I heard Davenport and panic set in ‘that’s so far away’ I was thinking, but kept it to myself.
It was chucking it down with rain and we clambered into the first 7 seater mini van we saw. Four suitcases and six people loaded into the van and dad tries to get his bearings. It just wasn’t happening for him so we all jumped out, unloaded the cases and loaded them and ourselves into the next mini van. Dad was happier with this one and we were finally on our way.
We took the 417 route. Dad asked if we could get to our villa by driving down the 192, as he’s used to this road, plus, it meant we could stop off and get some food on the way.
I looked at the various maps we had and yes, we could. We went off at the exit I thought was to get us to the 192.
Now, I had done a lot of planning and collected a lot of maps before we went away and thought I was all organised but I suddenly, for some reason, just felt lost and went totally blank. I thought I had took us the wrong way.
It was then my turn to panic and have a melt down. Several tears later and ‘I’m sorry’s’ and we were on the 192. I should’ve listened to my dad, ‘Laura, stop getting upset, we have not gone the wrong way so calm down!’. Turns out we had went off the 417 one exit too soon but we found the 192 in no time.
We had a quick McDonalds stop on the 192 (although I was too stressed to eat) then drove on down to the 27.
At around 7pm we had arrived at our villa location. First impressions – some of the villas on the outside looked quite run down. You could tell which villas were rental homes and which were residential. The rentals were all pretty on the outside, lawns all mowed whereas the residential homes had no lawns and their garages were always open.
Inside, the villa was lovely, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, gorgeous pool and very modern décor. Also, it was very secure. It had shutters on the sliding door leading to the pool and the windows at the back of the villa and an alarm system which it stated in the welcome pack ‘if you have an alarm system – use it’. All in all, we liked it and felt secure in our new home for 2 weeks.
So as I’m checking out the place and trying to let people know we had arrived safe, Mam and dad say ‘ok, lets go find a supermarket’. Me in my already fragile state ‘why? It’s dark outside’. Mam says ‘Laura – we need food and water’, which I suppose is fair enough haha. Looking back, I can’t believe I was so silly. I can’t help being a worrier, it’s just in my nature to worry about everything and everyone.
Publix was only a 10 minute drive down the 27 and stocked everything we needed. We were back at the villa in no time. I don’t know why I worried so much about leaving the villa in the dark!
(Steven with a giant can of Fosters)
Once we got back, everyone settled down and then went to bed around 10.30pm. Well, I say everybody – every time I heard the slightest noise I was up and patrolling. I think I finally settled at about 2am.
(Next up - Animal Kingdom)
Cast members –
Dad – Our driver who just goes with the flow
Mam – Queen of shopping
Me – Planner/Worrier
Steven - My boyfriend of 4 and a half years (and despite him sitting next to me whilst posting this, I forgot to add his name in before I posted! oops)
Adam – My 18-year-old brother, the joker of the group
Amy – My 12-year-old sister, on a mission to meet Daisy Duck
Dates – Thursday 28th July – Thursday 11th August 2011
Location – AOA Silver Villas (booked with Thomson)
Day before we leave
Wednesday 27th July - I had a full day at work, still hadn’t packed as we had spent our days at the hospital (my aunty has been quite poorly) and with other. We went to the hospital for the final time before leaving and said our goodbyes. My aunty was doing so well, although there were still feelings of guilt and my Mam was wondering whether she was doing the right thing by going on holiday.
(We got regular updates whilst we were on holiday and she finally came out of hospital on Thursday just gone. She’s very weak still but is more settled at home.)
That night we got home at around 8.30pm. I had a quick shower and got the suitcase out. I had never felt so unprepared for a Florida holiday and panic was setting in. I don’t know how I didn’t forget to take anything!
I finally settled and got to sleep at around 3am.
Thursday 28th July 2011 – Travelling day
We all woke up at around 7am. Our fight was 11.50am with Thomson from Newcastle Airport.
At around 8am we had packed up the cars and were ready to go. Steven and I travelled in his car and followed my dad as we didn’t know how to get to the airport. Being the worrier that I am, every time another car pulled in between Steven’s and my dads, I got my phone out ready for the ‘we’re lost, help us’ call! Thankfully, that call wasn’t needed.
We had airport car parking, which was fantastic and me and Steven are going to do this again next year. It’s so much easier (and cheaper) than relying on a taxi, especially after the long flight back home 2 weeks later.
Check-in was quick and easy, we were all seated together and by around 9.30am we were sat in the departure lounge munching on bacon sarnies.
(Amy, me & Adam)
The time went by so quickly and a few hours later we were getting ready to board.
I was impressed with the Thomson plane. We were in economy and all had an individual TV and quite a bit of leg room.
(Steven - happy with his cans of Stella)
The flight went very smooth, apart from a tiny bit of turbulence which prompted a reaction from Amy like none of us have ever seen before. She was crying her eyes out and shouting she wanted to get off the plane! She calmed down after around 15 minutes but it was very scary seeing her so upset and panicky. We thought it may have been down to her blood levels, as she’s diabetic, but they were fine. She was just genuinely scared and I think this might have been the reason why she sat out of a lot of rides this holiday.
We finally landed in Sanford and encountered a long wait at immigration as another Thomson flight had landed not long before ours.
Fast forward around 1 hour, our bags had been taken off the belt for us (probably as we were one of the last groups to get through from the Newcastle flight) and we were on our way to get our villa details and our car.
We were allocated in Royal Palms villas in Davenport. I heard Davenport and panic set in ‘that’s so far away’ I was thinking, but kept it to myself.
It was chucking it down with rain and we clambered into the first 7 seater mini van we saw. Four suitcases and six people loaded into the van and dad tries to get his bearings. It just wasn’t happening for him so we all jumped out, unloaded the cases and loaded them and ourselves into the next mini van. Dad was happier with this one and we were finally on our way.
We took the 417 route. Dad asked if we could get to our villa by driving down the 192, as he’s used to this road, plus, it meant we could stop off and get some food on the way.
I looked at the various maps we had and yes, we could. We went off at the exit I thought was to get us to the 192.
Now, I had done a lot of planning and collected a lot of maps before we went away and thought I was all organised but I suddenly, for some reason, just felt lost and went totally blank. I thought I had took us the wrong way.
It was then my turn to panic and have a melt down. Several tears later and ‘I’m sorry’s’ and we were on the 192. I should’ve listened to my dad, ‘Laura, stop getting upset, we have not gone the wrong way so calm down!’. Turns out we had went off the 417 one exit too soon but we found the 192 in no time.
We had a quick McDonalds stop on the 192 (although I was too stressed to eat) then drove on down to the 27.
At around 7pm we had arrived at our villa location. First impressions – some of the villas on the outside looked quite run down. You could tell which villas were rental homes and which were residential. The rentals were all pretty on the outside, lawns all mowed whereas the residential homes had no lawns and their garages were always open.
Inside, the villa was lovely, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, gorgeous pool and very modern décor. Also, it was very secure. It had shutters on the sliding door leading to the pool and the windows at the back of the villa and an alarm system which it stated in the welcome pack ‘if you have an alarm system – use it’. All in all, we liked it and felt secure in our new home for 2 weeks.
So as I’m checking out the place and trying to let people know we had arrived safe, Mam and dad say ‘ok, lets go find a supermarket’. Me in my already fragile state ‘why? It’s dark outside’. Mam says ‘Laura – we need food and water’, which I suppose is fair enough haha. Looking back, I can’t believe I was so silly. I can’t help being a worrier, it’s just in my nature to worry about everything and everyone.
Publix was only a 10 minute drive down the 27 and stocked everything we needed. We were back at the villa in no time. I don’t know why I worried so much about leaving the villa in the dark!
(Steven with a giant can of Fosters)
Once we got back, everyone settled down and then went to bed around 10.30pm. Well, I say everybody – every time I heard the slightest noise I was up and patrolling. I think I finally settled at about 2am.
(Next up - Animal Kingdom)
)
I think treading on a few feet while pushing past would get the point across. 
I love your pics and it sounds like you all took things at your own pace ~ thanks again 
