RachaelAitken
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 27, 2004
- Messages
- 79
THE Family!! Me, Rachael. Nurse and mummy,
DH , DD5 AND DS2
Well those who have read my previous trip reports will know that Day three dawned in an altogether different country than expected! I had a fitfull nights sleep with the previous days events on the plane whizzing through my mind. This post traumatic stress had seemed to pass DH and the kids by and they all snored the nght away. Have now realised that even the threat of a horrific air catastrophe could not shake the laid back world of hubby who i have never seen stressed ( apart from the previously mentioned cocktail sausage incident with a small boy !!)
After reuniting myself with my rinsed through undies hanging on the radiator!! and putting on the same sweaty horrible clothes from yesterday i was not feeling my best. For some surreal reason to make yesterday even more peculiar we had a bagpipe player outside our window for two hours in the small hours. Never did find out why but i felt very sorry for myself.Head throbbing, and very sleepy.
We had been told to get ready for 5am so roused the rest of the family. Was NOT going to miss this plane!! We sat in the reception area with some equally sleepy people who had decided to make the most of the free alcohol and were now regretting it! Finally the coach came and took us back up to the military base .
Well i have decided the safest country on Earth must be Canada, their customs checks put miss moodies at Gatwicks to shame. I think if they could have stripped us all naked and done internal checks they would have done.We had to take batteries out of cameras, turn videos on and show what we had on the film, empty coins out of purses to check the lining etc... As you can imagine for 400 + people to do this took some time. The kids however were in angelic mood thank god.
Sauntering by half an hour later came the air crew with not a crease or a hair out of place. I see they were allowed their luggage. Me and my make up are rarely parted so i looked on in envy with my sullen pale face and not quite dry nicks!!
I was in two minds about the flight. As i mentioned before i like many others are not good in the sky. The reassurance from the captain that the plane was now fine and the naughty boiler removed did little to calm my nerves. As there was no hot water there was no coffee to jig me up a bit. A brandy would have done but they were not serving alcohol either.
Despite being miles away from any real civilisation they had managed to lay hands on those awfull airplane breakfasts which is supposed to be like an omlette with tomatoe. My fork broke on mine so figured it would do little for my already delicate insides and nibbled on a roll instead.
Four hours later i was a nervous wreck, i hate the noises on planes and couldn't relax enough to sleep. About half an hour before landing they played the Disney tourist video and that was the first time in days it seemed real and exciting again. DS was then 2 and he was jumping up and down in his seat saying FOOFY CAN DANCE!! meaning Goofy of course. It was a realy cute moment and as i looked out onto the sea and lakes of Florida the nerves started to settle.
Landing was fine and a big cheer went up on the plane, we all went through to immigration and of course that was the moment that DS decided enough was enough and started to play merry hell.I wish they had let us have our pushchair back. We had arrived the same time as another UK flight and the queue was huge. DS was on the floor kicking and shouting and of course we had run out of sweets and any other blackmail device. The customs man must have been a father of preschoolers himself and gave us a compassionate smile. He told DD Minnie was sure looking forward to meeting her which provoked a huge smile.We did the photo and finger bit and then we were through to the US of A!!
After collecting the luggage we headed out to Alamo to get the car, exiting the doors was like walking into an oven. This was my first real trip to a hot place, we had done NY but that was -15 when we went. Apart from that we have always holidayed in Europe.I genuinly hadn't expected it to be so warm in October and it took a few days to get used to it. The air conditioning in the car was lovely and after hubby sat on the car boot to get the luggage in off we went!
I had diligently copied instructions from one of the boards showing how to get from Sanford to I drive step by step but we still got lost much to the amusement of DH. Eventually ended up on the right road, coins at the ready for the tolls.Enjoyed the drive down just looking at the vast roads and space. We went not long after the last hurricane and the damage to trees and property was very evident.Felt i had my quota of near disasters for one lifetime.
We had booked to stay at the Hawthorn suites just off International Drive. Our suite had a bedroom with two queen beds, loads of storage, a sofa bed, bathroom/shower and kitchenette. There was a also a laundry and pool on site.The decor was a little tired but it was very clean with daily maid service and it was nice to be able to make a snack or a cup of tea. Just gave us that little bit of extra room.Next time we go we have booked a villa in Indian Ridge Oaks. My main reason for booking hawthorn suites was the free daily buffet breakfast. This was a great help with the budget.
We were now all starving so headed out on foot to the Burger king round the corner. Was amazed to pay the equivalent of ten quid for four of us to eat like horses...think i'm going to like America.
After that we hopped in the car and drove down to the local Publix. I was very impressed with this supermarket, the customer service puts Tesco to shame.We stocked up on drinks and snacks ready to take to the parks, that was a great tip as it must have saved us a small fortune. The kids loved the Goldfish crackers and fruit sweets they sell.
Everyone was flagging so we headed back to the Hotel to unpack and bath the kids ready for the fun to begin tomorrow.
DH , DD5 AND DS2
Well those who have read my previous trip reports will know that Day three dawned in an altogether different country than expected! I had a fitfull nights sleep with the previous days events on the plane whizzing through my mind. This post traumatic stress had seemed to pass DH and the kids by and they all snored the nght away. Have now realised that even the threat of a horrific air catastrophe could not shake the laid back world of hubby who i have never seen stressed ( apart from the previously mentioned cocktail sausage incident with a small boy !!)
After reuniting myself with my rinsed through undies hanging on the radiator!! and putting on the same sweaty horrible clothes from yesterday i was not feeling my best. For some surreal reason to make yesterday even more peculiar we had a bagpipe player outside our window for two hours in the small hours. Never did find out why but i felt very sorry for myself.Head throbbing, and very sleepy.
We had been told to get ready for 5am so roused the rest of the family. Was NOT going to miss this plane!! We sat in the reception area with some equally sleepy people who had decided to make the most of the free alcohol and were now regretting it! Finally the coach came and took us back up to the military base .
Well i have decided the safest country on Earth must be Canada, their customs checks put miss moodies at Gatwicks to shame. I think if they could have stripped us all naked and done internal checks they would have done.We had to take batteries out of cameras, turn videos on and show what we had on the film, empty coins out of purses to check the lining etc... As you can imagine for 400 + people to do this took some time. The kids however were in angelic mood thank god.
Sauntering by half an hour later came the air crew with not a crease or a hair out of place. I see they were allowed their luggage. Me and my make up are rarely parted so i looked on in envy with my sullen pale face and not quite dry nicks!!
I was in two minds about the flight. As i mentioned before i like many others are not good in the sky. The reassurance from the captain that the plane was now fine and the naughty boiler removed did little to calm my nerves. As there was no hot water there was no coffee to jig me up a bit. A brandy would have done but they were not serving alcohol either.
Despite being miles away from any real civilisation they had managed to lay hands on those awfull airplane breakfasts which is supposed to be like an omlette with tomatoe. My fork broke on mine so figured it would do little for my already delicate insides and nibbled on a roll instead.
Four hours later i was a nervous wreck, i hate the noises on planes and couldn't relax enough to sleep. About half an hour before landing they played the Disney tourist video and that was the first time in days it seemed real and exciting again. DS was then 2 and he was jumping up and down in his seat saying FOOFY CAN DANCE!! meaning Goofy of course. It was a realy cute moment and as i looked out onto the sea and lakes of Florida the nerves started to settle.
Landing was fine and a big cheer went up on the plane, we all went through to immigration and of course that was the moment that DS decided enough was enough and started to play merry hell.I wish they had let us have our pushchair back. We had arrived the same time as another UK flight and the queue was huge. DS was on the floor kicking and shouting and of course we had run out of sweets and any other blackmail device. The customs man must have been a father of preschoolers himself and gave us a compassionate smile. He told DD Minnie was sure looking forward to meeting her which provoked a huge smile.We did the photo and finger bit and then we were through to the US of A!!
After collecting the luggage we headed out to Alamo to get the car, exiting the doors was like walking into an oven. This was my first real trip to a hot place, we had done NY but that was -15 when we went. Apart from that we have always holidayed in Europe.I genuinly hadn't expected it to be so warm in October and it took a few days to get used to it. The air conditioning in the car was lovely and after hubby sat on the car boot to get the luggage in off we went!
I had diligently copied instructions from one of the boards showing how to get from Sanford to I drive step by step but we still got lost much to the amusement of DH. Eventually ended up on the right road, coins at the ready for the tolls.Enjoyed the drive down just looking at the vast roads and space. We went not long after the last hurricane and the damage to trees and property was very evident.Felt i had my quota of near disasters for one lifetime.
We had booked to stay at the Hawthorn suites just off International Drive. Our suite had a bedroom with two queen beds, loads of storage, a sofa bed, bathroom/shower and kitchenette. There was a also a laundry and pool on site.The decor was a little tired but it was very clean with daily maid service and it was nice to be able to make a snack or a cup of tea. Just gave us that little bit of extra room.Next time we go we have booked a villa in Indian Ridge Oaks. My main reason for booking hawthorn suites was the free daily buffet breakfast. This was a great help with the budget.
We were now all starving so headed out on foot to the Burger king round the corner. Was amazed to pay the equivalent of ten quid for four of us to eat like horses...think i'm going to like America.
After that we hopped in the car and drove down to the local Publix. I was very impressed with this supermarket, the customer service puts Tesco to shame.We stocked up on drinks and snacks ready to take to the parks, that was a great tip as it must have saved us a small fortune. The kids loved the Goldfish crackers and fruit sweets they sell.
Everyone was flagging so we headed back to the Hotel to unpack and bath the kids ready for the fun to begin tomorrow.
