Verity Chambers
<font color=blue>He's delicious! Rather like <font
- Joined
- May 27, 2003
Day 1. Were off to Gatwick.
Today is the day we are off to Gatwick. Both children are up at 6.30am and desperate to get going but unfortunately for them and me, Simon has to work till 12, a long morning ahead!!
I get up and on with my jobs including printing a few documents off and some last minute emails to the villa owner. By 10.30 the kids are at fever pitch so I decide a trip to ASDA is on the cards to put some last minute spends on the currency card, to pick up an extra memory card and to get the kids some lunch whilst there to pass some time!
At 12.30 sharp Simon gets home and the cases go straight from the hallway into his car. After a stop for petrol we pick mum up and about 2pm we are on our way from Mansfield to Gatwick. It is a straightforward journey with no hold ups and we have a stop for Krispy Kremes and costa midway.
We park up at the Sofitel which is very straight forward along with check in. We got a great deal on this hotel with parking and it was brilliant to be able to park up and then walk over to the terminal, we would definitely do this again. At this point we have a mild panic as when Simon goes to get all the luggage from the car I realise our overnight bag is missing!
Not much harm done, but very annoying!! After some rearranging of clothes we head over to the terminal to do Twilight check in, this is so simple its ridiculous and we end the day we dinner at Joes Café, I dont recall what we ate but it was nice! We are all in bed by 9pm, absolutely shattered!!
Day 2- travel day
The alarm wakes us up at 7.30am, miraculously we have all slept well.
Ready to go:
We are all out the room by 8.30am and through security by 9am, despite a certain person leaving a fruit shoot in their bag.
A quick trip to Boots is on the cards to replace the make up left at home in the over- night bag and then we are off to gate 52. As we have a buggy we are let on first and quickly find row 31 and 32. Evie is in front of us with her granny and Sam sits between me and Simon. We are off a few minutes early. Yay!! 
Sam is thrilled with his tv and happily watches cbeebies, Simon starts with Les Mis while I listen to the Les mis soundtrack. The flight is uneventful and both kids cope well, they flip between tv shows and open the presents I have bought them to keep them entertained (notepad, memory game, sweets, stickers). We didnt order kids meals (not sure why) but they are both happy with the sausage and mash, I didnt note down what I had but it was typical plane fare, we were happy enough. My notes seem to stop at this point but I do know how happy we were with this BA flight, we have never flown with them before but we were super impressed. The attendants were lovely with the kids, there were plenty of drinks and you could go to the back for extras and snacks whenever needed.
Now last time we arrived the immigration queue was a nightmare, we were up the ramp that enters the room and it took a LONG time, so I was no looking forward to this at all, however by some miracle the queue was not bad at all and we probably only took 20 minutes to get through immigration. Our luggage was there when we got through and this time we dragged our luggage with us on the monorail as I hate sending it through without us. Simon sorts the car hire while I entertain the kids, they are remarkably perky after such a long day. Simon has ordered the same car as last time, he is one happy chappy.
We find our way to the villa with no problem at all, though we did have to drive through one of those crazy, scary Orlando downpours, I think Evie is a bit freaked out but Sam thinks its great!!
We stop at Seven Eleven for supplies- crisps, mountain dew, and beer being on top of the list then off to Orange Tree to find the villa.
We finish the day with pizza from Papa Johns, the kids have a paddle in the pool but we al admit defeat and its off to bed!!
Today is the day we are off to Gatwick. Both children are up at 6.30am and desperate to get going but unfortunately for them and me, Simon has to work till 12, a long morning ahead!!
I get up and on with my jobs including printing a few documents off and some last minute emails to the villa owner. By 10.30 the kids are at fever pitch so I decide a trip to ASDA is on the cards to put some last minute spends on the currency card, to pick up an extra memory card and to get the kids some lunch whilst there to pass some time!At 12.30 sharp Simon gets home and the cases go straight from the hallway into his car. After a stop for petrol we pick mum up and about 2pm we are on our way from Mansfield to Gatwick. It is a straightforward journey with no hold ups and we have a stop for Krispy Kremes and costa midway.
We park up at the Sofitel which is very straight forward along with check in. We got a great deal on this hotel with parking and it was brilliant to be able to park up and then walk over to the terminal, we would definitely do this again. At this point we have a mild panic as when Simon goes to get all the luggage from the car I realise our overnight bag is missing!
Not much harm done, but very annoying!! After some rearranging of clothes we head over to the terminal to do Twilight check in, this is so simple its ridiculous and we end the day we dinner at Joes Café, I dont recall what we ate but it was nice! We are all in bed by 9pm, absolutely shattered!! Day 2- travel day
The alarm wakes us up at 7.30am, miraculously we have all slept well.
Ready to go:
We are all out the room by 8.30am and through security by 9am, despite a certain person leaving a fruit shoot in their bag.
A quick trip to Boots is on the cards to replace the make up left at home in the over- night bag and then we are off to gate 52. As we have a buggy we are let on first and quickly find row 31 and 32. Evie is in front of us with her granny and Sam sits between me and Simon. We are off a few minutes early. Yay!! Sam is thrilled with his tv and happily watches cbeebies, Simon starts with Les Mis while I listen to the Les mis soundtrack. The flight is uneventful and both kids cope well, they flip between tv shows and open the presents I have bought them to keep them entertained (notepad, memory game, sweets, stickers). We didnt order kids meals (not sure why) but they are both happy with the sausage and mash, I didnt note down what I had but it was typical plane fare, we were happy enough. My notes seem to stop at this point but I do know how happy we were with this BA flight, we have never flown with them before but we were super impressed. The attendants were lovely with the kids, there were plenty of drinks and you could go to the back for extras and snacks whenever needed. Now last time we arrived the immigration queue was a nightmare, we were up the ramp that enters the room and it took a LONG time, so I was no looking forward to this at all, however by some miracle the queue was not bad at all and we probably only took 20 minutes to get through immigration. Our luggage was there when we got through and this time we dragged our luggage with us on the monorail as I hate sending it through without us. Simon sorts the car hire while I entertain the kids, they are remarkably perky after such a long day. Simon has ordered the same car as last time, he is one happy chappy.
We find our way to the villa with no problem at all, though we did have to drive through one of those crazy, scary Orlando downpours, I think Evie is a bit freaked out but Sam thinks its great!!
We stop at Seven Eleven for supplies- crisps, mountain dew, and beer being on top of the list then off to Orange Tree to find the villa.
We finish the day with pizza from Papa Johns, the kids have a paddle in the pool but we al admit defeat and its off to bed!!
