Finally got here so here's the live trip report!

[karentan]

Well we're at gatwick airport, the plan is 4 nights in north carolina to stay with friends we met on a disney cruise a couple of years ago, then fly down to orlando for 7 nights at Saratoga Springs, then 3 nights at Wilderness Lodge club level on the dining plan.
I say thats the plan, but here we are sat at gatwick airport, been here since 6am (couldnt sleep), waiting for a 10am flight to Charlotte airport, and its now delayed til 12pm. 2 hour delay means we'll miss our connection in charlotte, which means we're stuck there until US airways find us a flight. Luckily we're checked through to Norfolk so they need to put us on a flight sometime, but at the moment we're in limbo kind of!

Not the best start to a holiday, but not much we can do about it.....

Plan on trying to do a daily trip recap when we get to orlando, if anyone's got any questions they need answers for, i'll try my best

See you on the other side (hopefully, if we ever get there )

 

[Wills Mom]

Ah no, not good! But on the bright side you guys are on the way albeit slower than anticipated Safe flight(s) and looking forward to hearing how things are going over there

 

[bazzanoid]

Karen, why not try popping to the US Airways desk and see if they can re-jig your connecting flight now before you leave the UK? If they can it will be a jump up the queue so to speak for anyone else who will be missing the same plane....

 

[karentan]

Didn't think of that Bazza, thanks
Just went and spoke to the woman on the flight desk, she can't do anything here (not dedicated US airways desk) but she said they'll sort it out when we eventually set off.
Flight boards are now saying 1pm, Definately not a good start, we're getting picked up at the other end so keep sending messages to our friends to keep them updated too

Fingers crossed we get out soon..... (board now saying please wait which is a bonus on what's its been saying the last three hours)

 

[karentan]

It's apparently a technical problem with the hydraulics, so god knows how long we'll be here for, they've given us £10 each in meal vouchers (garys used his on a posh platter of cheese ham and pate, im thinking of burger and chips later lol) and Gary's gone off to ask if the plane is actually here, or if we've gotta wait for it to fly in from wherever it is at the mo.
Sat in a very overpriced cafe rouge, were in wetherspoons all morning but can't get any phone signal at all over there and at least cafe rouge gets signal and has a view of the runway.

ETA, at least the plane is actually here so fingers crossed they get it sorted soon and we can leave

 

[karentan]

Well they finally cancelled our flight, apparently they can't fix it tonight, but at least they finally made a decision so we're not stuck at the airport indefinitely.
They've put us up in the hilton, we've got buffet dinner later and brekkie tomorrow.
We've called and rebooked onto a flight tomorrow via Philadelphia, should get to Norfolk at 6.20pm, gutted as it means we miss the "proper southern cookout" our friends arranged for us. But at least we have a flight, they still haven't told us what's happening with our plane, and a guy we've just run into in reception said he's been rebooked but can't fly out til monday.

 

[igk]

Sorry to hear that - at least you have been able to escape from the airport at last.
Better luck tomorrow and have a great time when you get there

 

[karentan]

Thanks, have just emailed the airline quoting the EU regulation numbers, will see what they say in the next few days...

On the upside, just had a very nice dinner put on by the hotel, plus choc fudge cake and cream for dessert, diet has officially gone to pot now.... Also went up and got our bus voucher for tomorrow to get us to heathrow, and swapped it in at the national express desk for our coach ticket tomorrow. Going to have buffet brekkie in hotel then head to the bus stop and try again tomorrow.

The most gutting thing about all this is that our friends in NC organised a big proper southern cookout for us tomorrow and now it's had to be cancelled

 

[Clare D]

That's a shame. Hope you are in the air soon so your holiday can really begin

 

[karentan]

Woke up too early again today, got repacked up and had a really nice brekkie at the Hilton, loads of choice, but we ended up with a fry up! will be regretting that later... Got an earlier coach than we booked as we were ready early, so got to heathrow in plenty of time. Check in was ok, and stopped by the US airways ticket desk to ask about compensation for the cancelled flight. just cleared security and now sat waiting for 11 til we start boarding. Fingers crossed it goes on time.
Heard that some of the people on the flight are having to wait til Tuesday now, just thankful that we can get out today! Have bumped into a lot of people here from yesterday's flight so far.
On upside, found info on US airways website and their conditions of carriage that we should be able to claim 600 euros each in compensation, so keeping fingers crossed for what they email back in reply to the message I sent them last night.

 

[catherine]

Hope that things go smoothly for you today and that the rest of your trip is wonderful. Have a safe flight!

 

[crabbie1]

Oh karen so sorry what a dissapointing start but fingers crossed you will be on ur way soon. Xx

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Hope you are there now Karen - read both of your threads and fingers crossed you will get some compensation.

Have a great holiday

 

[disneyholic family]

sorry for the eventful start!

i hope it's all great from here on!!!!

 

[Queen2]

hope your trip gets Magical

 

[karentan]

Finally got to Philly, I say finally because 20 minutes into the flight the idiot sat next to Gary started having a go at the flight attendant, and it got pretty nasty at one point. Thought it'd just be our luck that we got in the air and would have to turn round again!
But here in Philly now, bit disappointed that I can't find anywhere in the airport that sells cheese steak sandwiches (thought can't come to Philly and not have one), but ended up with a fast food burger, well it's beef and cheese, almost the same!
Should be boarding next flight soon, at least we're finally in the states!
Immigration was a breeze, was in and through customs within 20 mins, bit of a queue to get back through security but all went ok in the end.

 

[disneyholic family]

Finally got to Philly, I say finally because 20 minutes into the flight the idiot sat next to Gary started having a go at the flight attendant, and it got pretty nasty at one point. Thought it'd just be our luck that we got in the air and would have to turn round again!
But here in Philly now, bit disappointed that I can't find anywhere in the airport that sells cheese steak sandwiches (thought can't come to Philly and not have one), but ended up with a fast food burger, well it's beef and cheese, almost the same!
Should be boarding next flight soon, at least we're finally in the states!
Immigration was a breeze, was in and through customs within 20 mins, bit of a queue to get back through security but all went ok in the end.

OMG!!! i would find that really scary - i'm always worried about some nutter going crazy when i'm up there in a little metal tube!!!

have fun with your friends and in WDW!!!

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Glad you got there

 

[wayneg]

We flew via Philly last Feb and had a Philly steak sandwich (see link and pic) Post #55 http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2660346&page=4

Just checked with the airport website, its still listed
"Philly Steak & Gyro Terminal B/C"

 

[karentan]

Damn, we were in a rush and only had a short connection time so only made it to terminal a and f
Finally got to our friends house about 9.15, was a very long day but we got there in the end had a nice day yesterday, Gary went skeet shooting and did did the test he needed to do to get his hunters license. We took the kids to their gymnastics class and went to one of those paint your plate places, it was good fun and got a cool souvenir to take home
Garys gone out hunting this morning, not sure what we're up to yet.
Tomorrow is our flight to Orlando, hoping for less airport drama this time!