The Day of Departure

We woke up feeling very, very excited. Russell phoned to advise that he has phoned Gatwick Airport and the flight is still going ahead. He also advises that he will ring when the Limousine arrives. A quick thing to mention is the limousine. The Kids think we will be going to Gatwick by special bus, but actually all eight of us, and the luggage, will be taken by a very, very large car. If you are going to have a holiday like this, in a big group, this is a brilliant idea! So much easier than Cabs, or trains, or tubes.

The time is 7.45. Russell rings to tell us they are on the way. We leave home to walk to the"bus stop". As we arrive we have a problem. There is a lot of traffic, and both buses that service the stop are there."Which one do we take Dad" springs from Andrew's mouth."Er, actually it's a special bus, the A1 that we need" I said unconvincingly.

Fortunately at that very moment before Andrew could say anything else the Limousine arrives and Russell winds down the window

"Anyone for a lift to the airport" he says. The kid's faces are an absolute picture as they realise that we are not going by bus, but by the Limousine. Already in the limousine are Russell and Brigitte, Joy and Chris. The car pulls away, struggles to take the first corner, (a very, very tight bend on Winchester Road) and we are on our way to DisneyWorld.

The journey is strange in that we go via the A13 rather than the motorway - but what the heck. Fortunately time is not a factor at this point; although going along the A13 could've made it one! As we toodle along the A13 there are some schoolchildren playing. They spot the Limo, but because the windows are tinted they cannot see inside, but are running along (well walking fast really) trying to see who is in the car. Being a bit of a wag, a funny thought comes to me. I open the window about three inches and wave."It's Elton John" I hear cried out. With this the kids follow the Limo for a distance. (It's not as hard as you may think, chasing a car along the A13 at 8.30 A.M.) I continue to bait them with just a glimpse of hand or lack of hair showing. They soon lose interest, but fortunately there are more kids further down the road to bait. So I continue with my game until we reach the Blackwall Tunnel at which point I have to stop. The journey to Gatwick continued fairly uneventful, if a little slow. We arrive, disembark, and try to sign in. We had booked our seats previously, as you are able to do, but due to other circumstances, related below the seat plan had been discarded. All Russell's planning, getting his PC to tell him how many days he had left before he could book the seats etc. had come to nothing.

There was one major reason and one smaller reason for the changes: - It was foggy (the minor reason), and Hurricane Georges.

As it was foggy our intended plane didn't land at Gatwick, it had landed in Cardiff, and Hurricane Georges meant that some planes were cancelled. We got a plane that should have been going to Miami as opposed to our destination Orlando. Basically the plane we were to travel in was smaller and slightly older. Andrew did not get his Sega Megadrive - much to his annoyance.

We got on the plane to find that the Starlings, Anita, Gordon, Andrew and Lauren had the final four seats in the aircraft. (Please note this gave us a large amount of space - we would recommend this seating arrangement to anyone with children.) The plane began to get ready for take off, but there was a problem. The air conditioning had to be turned off and it began to get very hot in the cabin. An announcement was made advising that we would be on the ground for about an hour as a problem had been encountered within the computer system on the aircraft. The good news (apart from the fact that they would mend it before taking off!) was that they would open the doors to let a little air in. The cool air soon flowed around us. The bad news was that I had made an error by changing into a singlet shirt, and shorts. Some ten minutes later the brass monkeys were warmer than I was. All our luggage was stored, and I didn't even have a blanket or anything. (Poor old sausage I hear said - Yes! And stupid because if I had asked the cabin crew could've given me one - A Blanket you dirty minded swine!) Still it was easier to breathe than when it was warm! We got a great view of the runway- well the thirty feet or so to the ground. The crew were positioned to stop any one jumping - but without a parachute I had no intentions that way

Our delay lasted about one and half-hours and then we were in the queue for take-off, and then we were away. The take-off very smooth, and soon we were up in the sky. This was the first time that the kids had flown and they were ecstatic. For the second time in this eventful day their faces were absolute pictures. One which we really should have taken! We might have taken 6 films - but not one picture of this. Soon we got used to the idea of flying, and it was time for food. The cabin crew were superb - well done Virgin for employing such a great group of people. We were made to feel very welcome, and before we can say could we have a drink for the kids they were asking us"do the kids want a drink". They continually smiled, and laughed and played with the kids, whilst undertaking the jobs that they had to. An absolutely brilliant crew - Well done Richard!

The kid's meals came first. Not a lot of choice but well received. The adults followed shortly after, with drinks etc. The kids were very happy as the in-flight entertainment had started and there were two films that they wanted to see, Dr Doolittle and Quest for Camelot. Both were watched and enjoyed, and before we knew where we were the pilot was advising that we were going to land shortly. Well OK it's slightly longer than two films to Florida (unless of course it's Titanic that you're watching.) - but what the heck.

We could see the lush green below us, as the plane descended slowly. My one fear of flying is normally the landing but this time it was only a little bump. The passengers all around us burst into a round of applause, which we joined in with. We were soon passing through passport control. I had been warned that the American Passport control was very strict, liable to take a long, long time and not to pass any of my usual stupid comments. We approached a rather stern looking gentleman, who had to review our documents. However as my daughter approached him, and smiled at him, he returned the smile, and commented on how pretty she was. I felt flushed with pride, as any Dad would. This was not going to be the onerous task I had expected. Two minutes and we were off to collect our luggage. N.B. It should be pointed out that for a record five minutes I did not pass one stupid comment - call the Guinness crew I say!

We then had to collect our hire car. We had upgraded to a larger car but were not quite expecting what we received. A People Wagon! It was a Dodge Ram 2500, which basically resembles a small bus. It seats eight people in comfort, with their entire luggage. Indeed the front passenger cannot touch the driver, unless they have arms the length of an Uranutan's (or Chris' if I may be so bold! - sorry Chris). Russell's sister Joy and her partner Chris had also arranged car hire. This meant that only six of us travelled in the spacious car, which was to be nicknamed the A-Team Wagon, or A-Wagon, within a day or so. This meant that we could travel around as a big group, or two smaller ones. Russell knew the journey to the hotel, although he had never stayed there before, so we set off to the repeating of the words "Think right, Think right". Soon the Wilson World, Maingate (where we were to stay) approached and we booked in. The kids had their own book in facilities but because we had not read all our instructions we did not realise this until much, much later. The hotel was very nice. We were all on the top floor, number 4, and all reasonably close together. Russell and Brigitte had the room opposite and Joy & Chris had one round the corner. Our room was quite large, with two double beds, TV and Bathroom and we unpacked. The kids wanted the bed closest to the TV, but we decided that it would be better for us to have the one in front of the TV as we did not expect to spend many late nights out and about. We were all quite tired so sleep was the order of the day, but we would be up early tomorrow, I thought to myself.

This was our limousine, NB photo taken upon our return home!