Wills Mom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2012
So just to give a short background of our recent trip
Travel Dates: May 4th - 21st
Travelling: Me (Pam), DH (James), DS1 (Will), my parents, my sister and her OH. Also travelling were my aunts family which included my aunt and uncle, their son and his pregnant wife and their 2 year old son.
Accommodation: Off site. We rented two separate villas at Glenbrook. Rented two separate cars also.
Ok so here we go!
Travel Day
Our indirect flights meant we had to leave home in the early hours of the morning of May 4th. We all travelled together in a mini bus which was very handy, it collected myself, DH and DS last and that was at 4.15am. DS loves his night time sleep so we found it a little hard to wake him at this stage but once he spotted his grandad he was wide awake and ready for action
We flew from Dublin to Gatwick with Aer Lingus which was DS's first ever flight. Luckily since he had been awake since very early he decided that take off was time for a nap! He slept the 40 ish minutes until we landed in Gatwick. It was a 2.5 hour stopover so we all split up and did our own thing deciding we would meet at the departure gate. DH, DS and I hit Frankie and Bennys to use a 20% off voucher I had printed. We shared a portion of fries and a California Club pizza - which was delish! DS doesn't really like pizza but even he nibbled on a slice. Service was verrrrrrry slow but since we had a long wait we didn't mind.
Before we knew it it was time to board. We flew on Jersey Girl with VA and the flight took 8 hours and 6 minutes. The flight itself was fine. Food was (as usual) gross. Had pre ordered kids meal for Will and that was decent enough. Will slept for about an hour after take off and for a total of about 90 minutes before landing. He was so very good the entire time, we kept him occupied with games and apps on my phone. He wanted to sit with his grandparents for a while so that was nice that DH and I got a break. Will did not cry once the entire flight so we were more than happy with him!
We landed at 4.20pm local time and had a wait at immigration for over two hours! It was awful with the kids, although they were as well behaved as they could be but we had to remember that if we were at home they would have both been fast asleep for the night at this time. Eventually we made it through immigration. The guy we got was SO rude, telling me I had the wrong address on our blue form. Took ages to explain to him that the villa company assigns the actual villa when we collect the keys so it was the only address he was getting off us! The rest of our family got through with no questions asked but this guy was obviously having a bad day!
We eventually got to the villa company at 8.30pm after having huge problems with the hire car. We hired from Budget (accidentally I might add but thats another story!) and the guy at the rental counter was the pushiest (insert nasty word!) I've ever met in my life. Eventually I actually shouted at him that we did not under any circumstances want, or need, any extras and that we were happy with our package. He got his revenge for my shouting but I'll save that story til later.
Found the villa in Glenbrook without a single problem, DH has drove in Florida on every one of our trips so we know pretty much where we're going. Will slept from the airport until we got to the house (so less than an hour all told) but he woke up when we tried to move him into the house so we dumped our luggage at the house and hit Walmart for a few essentials. Took about an hour, the closest Walmart was about a 2 minute drive away (if even) and we just picked up food items and got back home fast. Had a quick "dinner" of whatever we could stomach and everyone hit the hay. We had a four bedroom villa so my parents took one master, DH and I took the other and put Will in the closest twin bedroom. My sister and her OH went in the bedroom to the front of the house which was farthest away from everyone for some semblance of privacy. On the first night DS and I slept together in our master bedroom and DH went into the twin which was intended for DS. It was just for the night until DS got used to his surroundings. This was around 10.30pm and we were all out like a light after a long day!
Travel Dates: May 4th - 21st
Travelling: Me (Pam), DH (James), DS1 (Will), my parents, my sister and her OH. Also travelling were my aunts family which included my aunt and uncle, their son and his pregnant wife and their 2 year old son.
Accommodation: Off site. We rented two separate villas at Glenbrook. Rented two separate cars also.
Ok so here we go!
Travel Day
Our indirect flights meant we had to leave home in the early hours of the morning of May 4th. We all travelled together in a mini bus which was very handy, it collected myself, DH and DS last and that was at 4.15am. DS loves his night time sleep so we found it a little hard to wake him at this stage but once he spotted his grandad he was wide awake and ready for action
We flew from Dublin to Gatwick with Aer Lingus which was DS's first ever flight. Luckily since he had been awake since very early he decided that take off was time for a nap! He slept the 40 ish minutes until we landed in Gatwick. It was a 2.5 hour stopover so we all split up and did our own thing deciding we would meet at the departure gate. DH, DS and I hit Frankie and Bennys to use a 20% off voucher I had printed. We shared a portion of fries and a California Club pizza - which was delish! DS doesn't really like pizza but even he nibbled on a slice. Service was verrrrrrry slow but since we had a long wait we didn't mind.
Before we knew it it was time to board. We flew on Jersey Girl with VA and the flight took 8 hours and 6 minutes. The flight itself was fine. Food was (as usual) gross. Had pre ordered kids meal for Will and that was decent enough. Will slept for about an hour after take off and for a total of about 90 minutes before landing. He was so very good the entire time, we kept him occupied with games and apps on my phone. He wanted to sit with his grandparents for a while so that was nice that DH and I got a break. Will did not cry once the entire flight so we were more than happy with him!
We landed at 4.20pm local time and had a wait at immigration for over two hours! It was awful with the kids, although they were as well behaved as they could be but we had to remember that if we were at home they would have both been fast asleep for the night at this time. Eventually we made it through immigration. The guy we got was SO rude, telling me I had the wrong address on our blue form. Took ages to explain to him that the villa company assigns the actual villa when we collect the keys so it was the only address he was getting off us! The rest of our family got through with no questions asked but this guy was obviously having a bad day!
We eventually got to the villa company at 8.30pm after having huge problems with the hire car. We hired from Budget (accidentally I might add but thats another story!) and the guy at the rental counter was the pushiest (insert nasty word!) I've ever met in my life. Eventually I actually shouted at him that we did not under any circumstances want, or need, any extras and that we were happy with our package. He got his revenge for my shouting but I'll save that story til later.
Found the villa in Glenbrook without a single problem, DH has drove in Florida on every one of our trips so we know pretty much where we're going. Will slept from the airport until we got to the house (so less than an hour all told) but he woke up when we tried to move him into the house so we dumped our luggage at the house and hit Walmart for a few essentials. Took about an hour, the closest Walmart was about a 2 minute drive away (if even) and we just picked up food items and got back home fast. Had a quick "dinner" of whatever we could stomach and everyone hit the hay. We had a four bedroom villa so my parents took one master, DH and I took the other and put Will in the closest twin bedroom. My sister and her OH went in the bedroom to the front of the house which was farthest away from everyone for some semblance of privacy. On the first night DS and I slept together in our master bedroom and DH went into the twin which was intended for DS. It was just for the night until DS got used to his surroundings. This was around 10.30pm and we were all out like a light after a long day!