Trip Report Something happened on the way to Florida

Howdy one and Y'all
I know it's early for a pre-trip but what the heck i have been counting this down since last year.
This time we have decided to forgo our normal May time slot and venture over the pond in October.
The who ?
Me and Mrs Ferret (Matt and Donna)
may_7.7.jpg


Why October ?
Well we wanted to meet up with some friends of ours that are there at that time and we have always wanted to go at halloween time but work has always been an issue.
Well this Christmas i surprised Mrs Ferret with the paperwork on christmas day having already okayed the time off with her boss and sorted out the holiday.
Where ?
We are going back to Port Orleans Riverside as we liked the resort last time and the boat to Downtown Disney Springs is an absolute godsend to us.
Here is the rough breakdown of our planned trip so far,
October 15th . Depart our rock for Gatwick
October 16th . Depart Gatwick for the sunshine state, Get hire car,Check in and proceed to Downtown.
October 17th . Universal Studios daytime . MNSSHP nighttime (no dining reservations)
October 18th . Animal Kingdom.
October 19th . MGM studios ( MSDAHAV :D:D:D)
October 20th .Magic Kingdom (Liberty tree tavern lunch)
October 21st .Animal Kingdom (Boma dinner)
October 22nd . Shopping ( Boma Breakfast)
October 23rd . Universal Studios (dinner at Skipper canteen)
October 24th .EPCOT (Teppan Edo )
October 25th .Magic Kingdom ( Crystal palace breakfast)
October 26th .(Raglan road dinner)
October 27th .MGM (Chef Mickeys breakfast)
October 28th .Magic Kingdom ? ( O'hana dinner)
October 29th .Animal Kingdom/EPCOT (Boma breakfast)
October 30th . Depart Florida :cry:
October 31st . Arrive at Gatwick and transfer to rockhopper airlines to get home :grumpy:

All the above is subject to change except the flights.
 
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King Racoon 77

King Racoon 77

Thank you sir. You were an inspiration.
Premium Member
Original Poster
Florida here we come part ? I lost count.



True to their word it wasn’t much longer before the gate was opened and we could begin boarding.

As we went into the hall to get to the airport Donna stopped by the two Delta representatives who had been at the airport all day and thanked them for all the hard work that they had done . They were genuinely surprised that someone had taken the time to stop and say thanks ( there were a lot of , shall we say “entitled” passengers that they had dealt with all day).

With a quick walk in the drizzle from the airport we were back onboard our plane once more and soon seated and ready to roll.

Once we were all onboard we were soon airborne at 6pm and on our way to Florida.

We didn’t bother with a film and just read our kindles as the flight was only 3 hours.

Soon enough we were touching down in FLORIDA ….

Once we had cleared customs and immigration we headed straight to the hire car desk to pick up our trusty steed for the holiday.

We ended up with a Nissan Verso in blue who became known as Pablo. Not sure why but he did.
pablo.jpg


One uneventful journey later we were pulling up to the guardhouse at Port Orleans to a much needed “Welcome Home”.



We parked up and headed into reception to check in and get our Magic bands. The young lady greeted us and processed our room and asked us what color magic bands we would like as our pre-ordered ones had gone missing. This was sorted quickly and we had no issues with our bands for the whole stay.

It was now 11pm and she asked if there was anything else that she could do to help us ?
 
MinnieM123

MinnieM123

Premium Member
Mr Ferret 88 said:
The vans arrived with the catered buffet and an announcement was put out at about 2pm that they were ready to serve. Could any passengers with disabilitys and familys with children please line up first . Gee a flight to Orlando couldn’t have that many familys on board …
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:hilarious:

My goodness, I can't believe all the crazy delays you and your fellow passengers went through!! :jawdrop:

Mr Ferret 88 said:
As we went into the hall to get to the airport Donna stopped by the two Delta representatives who had been at the airport all day and thanked them for all the hard work that they had done . They were genuinely surprised that someone had taken the time to stop and say thanks ( there were a lot of , shall we say “entitled” passengers that they had dealt with all day).
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What a nice gesture from Donna. And you know, that's all it takes sometimes--just one kind, decent person to let those hard-working people realize that they were appreciated. God love her.
 
21stamps

21stamps

Well-Known Member
Mr Ferret 88 said:
The journey to Florida Part 2.



We settled down for our flight and perused the options on the inflight entertainment and both settled on Cars 3.

About an hour in as we were over Ireland the captain came over the PA.



“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Due to a smell of smoke in the cabin we are going to have to turn around and return to Gatwick”



Cue the cabin all sniffing and looking puzzled as we couldn’t smell anything. Saftey first however and we were soon headed back East and down to over the channel to jettison some fuel to allow us to land.

When we started circling the smell became very apparent in the cabin to everyone. Then we had this message come over the PA.



“MAYDAY MAYDAY this is flight vs16 to Gatwick Tower please clear the runway as we are coming straight in for an emergency landing”



The entire plane went somewhat silent at this point and remained that way until wheels down on the runway. There was a large cheer and round of applause for being back on terra firma.



We taxied down the runway with a full compliment of blues and twos making sure the plane wasn’t on fire.After getting the all clear we returned to the gate we had taken off from. First class was taken off the plane and firefighters and mechanics came onboard.
View attachment 246576

There was a lot of planes turned around for the same reason and it was actually smoke in the atmosphere from forest fires in Portugal being blown north by the after effects of hurricane Ophellia.



After about a 2 hour inspection we were given the all clear and the posh people were let back on board. We were re-fuelled and given clearance and sent into the yonder once more.
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Wow.
 
21stamps

21stamps

Well-Known Member
Now I understand why Bermuda isn’t your favorite place! What a start to the trip.
I wonder what happened to the sick child. That must have been so scary for all involved.

But wait.. where’s the rest of the report? You said “trip report”, this is a “getting there” report.. ;). Time to add some more!
 

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