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Old 26 Oct 14, 01:02 PM  
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vanlou
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Er, where's the rain? Day 15/16 (1&2/9) - the one where we went home

Not many pictures today I'm afraid.

We were all up by 8am this morning and finished the packing. Cleared out the fridge and had an odd breakfast of whatever was left and in date, mainly fruit and the odd cookie. We then wheeled our cases around to Bell services and left everything with them until later. Rob, ever panicking, had locked the rucksack with all the tech in one of the suitcases, which he seemed fairly happy to then leave thank goodness So time to catch a Disney park bus for the last time this holiday - our park of choice was Hollywood Studios and we arrived at about 10:15am. Our last photopass picture



We hadn't done the Great movie ride all holiday so this where we headed. The queue was showing 25mins, but so be it. We got the gangster ride again, but the train in front of us got the cowboy one so was a bit gutted we hadn't arrived a few minutes earlier and been further up the queue Never mind. Next up was our FP for Rock'n'rollercoaster. Ffion had already decided she wasn't going to ride it, so my plan was for Georgina and Rob to ride it first, and then me and Georgina after. Anyway, Rob decided that he wasn't bothered about riding it either (I think his flight nerves had set in) so me and George headed in. I love this ride. I made the decision to keep my glasses on, and they were fine, although I did keep clamping them to my head just in case. After, Georgina decided she wasn't bothered to ride it a 2nd time so we headed off to find a pretzel for Ffion instead, and use up our last snack credit. Would you believe it - they had the jalapeņo pretzels on sale too. Hadn't been able to find them all holiday and now on our last day, a few hours before I would be getting onto an enclosed plane , we find them. We all agreed it probably would not be a good idea to eat one now, so sadly that means we will definitely have to go back again at some point By now it was about 12pm so we headed back to POFQ to have some lunch and then wait for the Magical Express. Georgina and Ffion shared some chicken nuggets, Rob had a cheeseburger and I had the vegeburger which was really not nice at all. We still had 5 QS meal credits left at the end of the holiday. I guess we should have asked if we could change them to snack credits, but I didn't think of it at the time. We headed back to Bell Services to pick up our luggage and then got changed into our travelling clothes. A final few photos from POFQ



Our bus arrived on time and we went via OKW and SSR before heading to the airport. Our driver today was Jesus and he was very funny. We did like the fact that we started our trip with Elvis and ended with Jesus. Seemed to sum up America's diversity We arrived at the airport at 2:50pm and made our way up to the luggage check-in, joining the end of a very long queue. Nerves had set in again as to where we would be sitting - hopefully together. Eventually we reached the front desk to find we had a middle row of 3 together, and 1 on it's own in front of them, so that was ok. When the luggage was weighed they were both over 24kg so obviously our scales are rubbish. The BA lady said it was fine though - you can go over by 2kgs before they will charge, which I didn't know. They did have "heavy" stickers attached to them though. Knowing that Ffion would be unlikely to eat on the plane we headed in to find some food. The girls spied McDonalds so they both had some chips and nuggets to share again. I had a thick shake from one of the other fast food counters - can't remember what it was called though. It was very yummy After we made our way through security (wasn't good when Rob had to take his shoes off - sweaty feet ), and then made our way to gate 80 where we saw my work colleague and his daughter. They were on the Virgin flight which was due to take off about an hour after us. We were all hoping to catch the same train from Gatwick to Reading in the morning so we promised to look out for each other at the station. Georgina had spied a Starbucks on the way in, so me and her went off to order a couple of drinks. Rob was doing his "there isn't time" panic but I was sure it would be fine. Well, it would have been if they hadn't been so slow at Starbucks Ffion eventually came to tell us that they had started boarding so we had a bit of a meltdown moment, but luckily the drinks were then ready so we ran back and joined the end of the queue. Rob wasn't happy as we had missed our actual call, but it didn't really matter, and he calmed down again. The girls had to drink their drinks pretty quickly though so it really wasn't worth the hassle. Rob and the girls sat together, and I sat on my own in front of them. I was sat with the daughters of the lady who sat next to me in the way out, and she was just across the aisle from them, so we all said quick hellos. Charter Travel must have had a block seat booking, and then BA just allocated us within that. We took off on time and all was quite smooth. Food wise both Rob and I had chicken tikka, Georgina had ravioli and Ffion had a bit of a selection with grapes, crisps, carrot sticks and a roll, and she actually ate most of it. The curry was very nice. We then had lemon cake for dessert. I watched Maleficent and, although I wasn't really expecting to, I enjoyed it. A very different telling of the tale. I also caught up with highlights of the last F1 race which we had missed. Ffion watched the Muppet movie, Divergent and Cartoon Network, Georgina watched Maleficent and Cartoon Network, and Rob watched Bad Neighbours (which he said was really funny but there were a few times when the images that came up on screen weren't always in keeping with a family airline) and Godzilla. I think Ffion managed to get an hour or so of sleep, but the rest of didn't get any sleep at all There was quite a lot of turbulence again, but nothing as bad as our flight on the way there. For breakfast we had croissant and jam, and a cranberry granola bar which was ok, with a packet of craisons too, so bit of a cranberry overload really. The landing was fine and it didn't take long before we were off the plane and waiting for our luggage. Like Orlando airport our cases were pretty much the last to come off the belt, but eventually we were doing that awkward walk through Customs and then out into the main airport bit. It was about 8am now and the train was not due to leave until 9:07am so we had a bit of time to waste. Ffion was hungry as she hadn't eaten any of the plane breakfast so we tried to find her a sausage roll or something, but there was nothing. Eventually we spied some bananas and got one of them, plus a packet of Pringles. It was still only 8:25 but we were absolutely knackered so decided to just head for the station and find a seat and wait. Initially our tickets wouldn't open the barrier to get on the platform, and the guard said it was because we were too early. But another guard then came along and let us through anyway so not sure what that was all about. It was quite cold on the platform but we managed to get some seats so just sat and waited. Around 9am we went back onto the main platform but to wait for the train, and then saw Jim and his family, so went over to wait with them. The train was on time so we all piled into a carriage and spent most of the time between Gatwick and Reading chatting to them about our holidays and what we had all been up to. Was a nice end to it really Luckily the train didn't stop in so many stations this time so it didn't take so long. Once at Reading we quickly found the platform for our next train. I think there was 5 mins between the two trains so we needed to get a move on. We were in carriage A, and the others were in carriage B but we weren't sure which end would be which so stood in the middle of the platform. When the train arrived it was a bit of a mad rush to get up to the right end, and then there was absolutely nowhere to put the cases. Nightmare I got the girls seated and then Rob and I managed to make enough space to put the cases, but they were sticking out a bit. Ffion sat with me, she was feeling a bit travel sick but luckily pretty much managed to sleep right through to Liskeard. We all shared a cheese roll and egg sandwich from the food bit, but we all really just wanted to get home as so tired. The train was on time and we arrived at St Austell station about 2:15pm. We got a taxi and were home by 2:30pm. And that was the end of our holiday

Still to come - final thoughts and future plans.
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Edited at 01:47 PM.
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Old 26 Oct 14, 03:57 PM  
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It's always so sad when you come to your last day but yours sounded lovely, even managing a few rides in HS. Would love to go on Magical Express one day as we've never been on one of those buses. Glad you had a safe journey home and fairly trouble free. That's the thing that always puts me off going to the airport on a train, trying to find somewhere to put your cases!
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Old 26 Oct 14, 05:09 PM  
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Teacherdork
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Thank you, I have really enjoyed reading your trip report. I too have a daughter who has a fear of small creatures with lots of legs. Is the Doctor Who shop a permanent fixture?
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Old 26 Oct 14, 07:09 PM  
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Fuellady
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Such a long day, travel home day... nice start though, managing to fit in a visit to HS.

Thanks for sharing your holiday with us Vanessa, I've really enjoyed reading it.
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Old 26 Oct 14, 08:25 PM  
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Originally Posted by juliab View Post
It's always so sad when you come to your last day but yours sounded lovely, even managing a few rides in HS. Would love to go on Magical Express one day as we've never been on one of those buses. Glad you had a safe journey home and fairly trouble free. That's the thing that always puts me off going to the airport on a train, trying to find somewhere to put your cases!
I'm glad we went back to HS as were were a bit down on it after earlier visit, but we had a lovely few hours there that morning. Magical Express is great - very Disneyfied I couldn't believe how little luggage space there was on the train. I guess they have to maximise the seating to make money, but it wasn't good
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Old 26 Oct 14, 08:27 PM  
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vanlou
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Originally Posted by Teacherdork View Post
Thank you, I have really enjoyed reading your trip report. I too have a daughter who has a fear of small creatures with lots of legs. Is the Doctor Who shop a permanent fixture?
Oh thankyou The Dr Who merchandise was in the Crown & Crest shop. I assume it is a permanent fixture. It was a bit odd really as there was Dr Who stuff, and Beatles stuff Great little shop though.
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Old 26 Oct 14, 08:28 PM  
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Originally Posted by Fuellady View Post
Such a long day, travel home day... nice start though, managing to fit in a visit to HS.

Thanks for sharing your holiday with us Vanessa, I've really enjoyed reading it.
Thankyou for reading Lynda It was a long day, but we got home in end
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Old 26 Oct 14, 10:48 PM  
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That sounds like a very long day. I much prefer a late night flight home, it just seems easier to get a bit of sleep when your body clock says it is actually nighttime.
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Old 28 Oct 14, 08:46 AM  
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Originally Posted by spencem View Post
That sounds like a very long day. I much prefer a late night flight home, it just seems easier to get a bit of sleep when your body clock says it is actually nighttime.
Maybe that's what we need - a midnight flight I am pinning my hopes on flying back 1st class next time and having a "bed", but think I may be a little optimistic
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Old 28 Oct 14, 03:28 PM  
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The journey home is awful isn't it?!

Looking forward to reading about your next visit 'The Quest for the Jalapeno Cream Cheese Pretzel!'.
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