Up early again this morning. Following the disastrous DTD check in for everyone else last week we had considered just storing our luggage in the hotel and checking in at the airport later
however wed done this on a previous trip and had queued for 2 hours at the airport, and today is thanksgiving so we werent sure how busy the airport would be
so we decided to plump for the DTD check in.
We left the hotel at about 7.30 checking with reception to see if our official wedding photos had been delivered. There was no sign of them, and we were sad but slightly relieved as we had no idea how wed transport them home
the Disney ones were in my trolley dolly case with my wedding dress, but it was full to bursting as it was
and there was no way wed be putting wedding photos in the hold to get thrown around. The photographer had our home address so we figured he could just post them to us.
Checking in at DTD was a dream, we were third in the queue and the desks opened early, so by 9.15 we were ready to head to MGM
until my mobile rang and I found a message from the photographer! Hed got to the hotel about 20 minutes after wed left and was trying to track us down
We went over to the Marketplace to find a phone and managed to get hold of him. We agreed to meet him in the parking lot at 10am, and went over to McDonalds for breakfast while we were waiting.
We always avoid McDonalds on holiday as we can get them back home, and Im not a big fan, but their breakfasts are to die for! Bacon and cheese biscuits
Im going to dream about these until our next trip!
We tracked Ryan down in the parking lot and he gave us a massive pile of boxes
Did we really order this many albums and DVDs?? We must have looked quite funny doing that exchange out the back of the Marketplace!
We went and sat on a bench and looked through our photos, which were amazing and then packed them all back up and drove to MGM.
We went back to play Millionaire, and got put on the TV again, even though DH was refusing to wear his hat by this point! We didnt make the hot seat though although we did get on the leader board.
Then we went over to see Lights Motors Action, we were in the stand by line and had to wait for about 20 minutes in a holding pen in the midday sun, it was very uncomfortable and I could feel my skin burning, Disney should really invest in some shade for those who choose not to fast pass! Its been quite cool the last few days and we thought we were being acclimatised to go back home, then today it shoots back up to 28 degrees! Just typical :Rolleyes1:
The show was just as good on the second viewing, and this time all of the stunts were working including the jet skis.
Before too long it was time for some last minute shopping (we had to buy a large souvenir bag so we could carry out photo albums onto the plane!) and then it was back to the car and off to Ruby Tuesdays for our final dinner
Now I know its 3pm on Thanksgiving but the service in Rubys today was a joke! We placed our order (a burger and a cheesy bacon fries) and had to wait nearly 40 minutes for our food, and then when we finished we had to wait another 20 for the check! So much for a quick meal on the way to the airport, its a good job wed left plenty of time.
Our flight wasnt until 9pm but we were at the airport by 6pm, we smiled at the people waiting in the check in queue for our flight
and headed through to departures. We could have just checked in here and saved ourselves a couple of hours this morning but at 6pm the line was around the check in area so wed have had to arrive here even earlier.
Besides we had our wedding dvd to watch to kill some time
By the time wed watched the video and then changed into our warm travelling clothes it was time to board. I was a bit nervous about our hand luggage at this point, a rucksack, a camera, my trolley dolly case, and then the huge souvenir bag with the photos in
but there were people around with even more bags than us, including carrier bags bursting with cuddly toys, and there was a pile of duty free waiting to be collected on the ramp.
As we got to the plane door I noticed a man pulling trolley dolly cases off passengers, uh oh, I tried to sidle past him and stepped on the plane, at which point a hostess stopped me and said I wasnt allowed my case as the plane was full and there wasnt enough space
I told her very calmly that my wedding dress was in the case and I wasnt letting it out of my sight, and that I was allowed one piece of hand luggage so why should I be penalised just because you couldnt put carrier bags in the hold??
She wasnt very nice and said I could keep it until everyone had boarded but then if there was no room she was taking it!
So we walk to the back of the plane to find our seats, and open our overhead bin, and its empty! The case goes in neatly with our other bags, and those of the couple behind us
and after all the fuss the bin opposite us actually remained empty for the entire flight!
The flight was pretty eventful
well there was some turbulence that turned DH a funny shade of green, but I asked the steward for some travel sickness tablets and he was fine after a little while. We both managed to get quite a lot of sleep which was a surprise and before we knew it we were landing in sunny Gatwick, at 7am, and the pilot was telling us it was a toasty 0 degrees
We hold our breaths as we move through customs, but its all uneventful and soon were at the train station, an hour earlier than our train! We buy a paper (George Best is on his death bed) and some Upper Crust sandwiches (yum) and I ask the rail attendant if theres a sooner train to Reading.
He tells me we can catch a train to somewhere obscure and head off the earlier Reading train, so we run as fast as we can with our assortment of bags and four cases (yeah we didnt consider the logistics of this very well!) and catch the train by the skin of our teeth
of course when we get to the obscure station we find there is no earlier train to Reading and we might have well have waited in the warm station at Gatwick, instead we shiver on the platform for half an hour until our booked train arrives
From here on in its just the long journey home, changing at Reading and then standing in the buffet car all the way to Bristol as the train is packed, positive is we cant fall asleep! Sometime after 1pm we flag down a taxi and arrive home sweet home, which DMIL has kindly decorated with balloons and streamers!
To avoid falling asleep we shower and change and drive over to DMILs house, to tell her all about the trip and the wedding and see our beautiful cats!
And thats it, the end of our wedding trip, three weeks of fun, sun and Disney magic, a camera full of photos and a head full of memories