From the UK to the Magic: Booking Disney & Flying with a Toddler

This week on Brits in the Magic, we're talking about one of the biggest parts of any Disney holiday before you've even packed your suitcase – booking your trip from the UK!

We're sharing our experiences of booking Disney holidays through different providers, including Virgin Atlantic Holidays, TUI and Aer Lingus, discussing the pros and cons of each and what has worked best for our family over the years. Whether you're booking your very first Disney adventure or you're looking at trying a different travel provider, we'll explain the things we always consider before hitting that "Book Now" button.

We also dive into what it's really like flying to Florida with a toddler. From what we pack in our hand luggage and our favourite in-flight activities to surviving a long-haul flight with Little B, we're sharing the tips, tricks and lessons we've learnt from travelling as a family. We'll even tell you why you should never tell your child they are the pilot!

As always, we finish with another fun quick-fire round, covering everything from our favourite airline snacks and Disney films to watch on the plane to our essential hand luggage items.

Whether you're planning your first Walt Disney World holiday or you're a seasoned Disney traveller looking for a few new family travel tips, we hope this episode helps make your journey to the magic that little bit easier.

If you enjoyed today’s episode, make sure to subscribe to Brits in the Magic so you never miss a trip into the magic.

We’d love to hear from you! Send us your Disney stories, questions, tips or episode ideas via email at britsinthemagic@outlook.com

And come say hello on Instagram at @britsinthemagic for park photos, family adventures, behind-the-scenes fun and plenty more Disney magic.

*Disclaimer*

Intro/outro narration and audio elements for this podcast may include AI-generated content created using licensed production tools.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Brits in the Magic. Family Disney podcast. Disney Podcast, family adventures, British Inside.

SPEAKER_05 0:24

Hello! And welcome home to Brits in the Magic episode 5. My name is Mr. B.

SPEAKER_02 0:31

And I'm Mrs. B.

SPEAKER_05 0:33

And welcome back. Um so just a quick recap of uh last episode. It was all about the heat, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_02 0:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 0:41

How's that gone for us?

SPEAKER_02 0:43

Er so I mean great. The episode was great.

SPEAKER_05 0:47

Big hit.

SPEAKER_02 0:48

Did it in a heat wave.

SPEAKER_05 0:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

That went away.

SPEAKER_05 0:51

It did.

SPEAKER_02 0:51

It was still warm. It wasn't ridiculous. And has returned with full vengeance.

SPEAKER_05 0:56

Yeah, so we are back sweating uh in our living room, aren't we, with the French doors closed again to record the episode. Uh and uh yeah, we're cooking alive right now, but we're happy to be here with you.

SPEAKER_02 1:09

I am genuinely concerned that we are not gonna have enough clothes to take away because we are gonna have to have worn them the day before.

SPEAKER_05 1:19

We're just using all our summer clothes at the moment.

SPEAKER_02 1:21

We've never had to do that before. We've always got away with jeans before we've gone away.

SPEAKER_05 1:25

Yeah, we are using all of our summer clothes at the moment, so it's gonna be, I think, a a la a last minute mad dash to get them all washed and cleaned, ready for the big day.

SPEAKER_02 1:33

Yeah, I think that's it.

SPEAKER_05 1:34

Um but it's uh no, it's it's crazy. I mean it's lovely, we're enjoying the heat.

SPEAKER_02 1:38

Oh, it's fantastic. And I wonder if we'll be a bit more acclimatised this year and that first day actually won't be as horrendous as it used I say horrendous, horrendously brilliant, but won't be as horrible heat-wise as it usually is.

SPEAKER_05 1:54

It could actually be to the point that we just go, too cold. Florida's too cold.

SPEAKER_02 1:59

I don't think we'll ever say that.

SPEAKER_05 2:00

It's too cold, let's go home. Let's go home back back to the sunshine.

SPEAKER_02 2:05

I don't think so.

SPEAKER_05 2:06

No, no, me neither. Uh but today we're gonna be looking at something uh very important, especially for people that maybe planning their first ever trip, or people that might want to kind of look at doing a trip in a different way, and that is booking your Disney holiday. We'll also, in the second part of the episode, be kind of talking about um uh the trials and tribulations of having a toddler on a uh long haul flight.

SPEAKER_02 2:35

Yeah, that was an experience.

SPEAKER_05 2:37

We learnt a lot.

SPEAKER_02 2:38

A lot.

SPEAKER_05 2:39

We did learn a lot, and to be fair, we've had two experiences with a toddler on a flight. A short haul flight.

SPEAKER_02 2:44

Where he was fantastic and we thought this is going to be amazing.

SPEAKER_05 2:47

And a long haul flight.

SPEAKER_02 2:48

Where he wasn't horrendous, but things happened. But there were situations that couldn't be avoided that weren't anything to do with his behaviour or things he could control.

SPEAKER_05 2:59

Oh, there was one, it was hard work, there was one, and I will cover that later because there is a listener that knows and who is responsible for that kind of thing. Um, but yes, there was there was one thing right at the beginning of the flight. Oh, yes, yes, yes, listener, you know who you are. Uh anyway, anyway, so moving on to uh booking a Disney holiday. Yeah, one of the most exciting things you can do, I think, when when when going to Disney, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:29

There is nothing better than that countdown.

SPEAKER_05 3:31

Yeah, when when you when you've made that decision, you've booked the holiday. I mean, obviously, there is a thought of we've just spent a lot of money here.

SPEAKER_03 3:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 3:39

But then realising what you spent the money on and the countdown begins. It's one of the most special parts, I think, of a Disney holiday. Don't get me wrong, getting there, number one. Yeah, but booking that holiday, one of the uh one of the best parts of it.

SPEAKER_02 3:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 3:53

Um, and I think what we what we'll do is we'll kind of start from wanting to plan for the holiday, when to start planning for the holiday, when to start looking and booking.

SPEAKER_02 4:03

Yeah, so lots of different people have lots of different opinions on this. Lots of people I talk to say, oh, we're gonna go one day, we're gonna wait until the kids are X, Y, Z years old. Totally understandable. Um for many people it is a once-in-a-lifetime trip until it's not, and you get the bug. And not everybody does. My parents didn't really.

SPEAKER_05 4:27

No.

SPEAKER_02 4:27

They did it, it was done.

SPEAKER_05 4:29

Friends of ours who went for the first time last year though.

SPEAKER_02 4:32

Oh, they got the bug.

SPEAKER_05 4:33

They've got the bug, they're going back next year, aren't they?

SPEAKER_02 4:35

They are indeed. Um, so I think for a lot of people it's about waiting until the children are the right age. For us, that wasn't the case. We were already full-blown Disney adults, and Little B had to come along whether he liked it or not.

SPEAKER_05 4:51

Well, there's something that we said, and I think I I think it we said it in the first, maybe the second episode, but I think the first episode, we said that Disney's not about what he remembers, it's about what we see on his face and the memories, the core memories that are created by that.

SPEAKER_02 5:12

But I totally understand people waiting. It is an incredibly expensive holiday too. Absolutely. Um, and I think so. I think a lot of people actually start planning long before they book because they have in their heads, right, we're gonna go in three years, or we're gonna go in five years. This is gonna be the big one, yeah. So I think that's a big one. I think thinking then about when to book differs depending on what you're doing. So we have done package holidays, we've done we bought everything separately, but not staying on property holidays, and then we've done DVC booking. And when you can actually book all that stuff differs depending on um what you do. So a package you can book a lot earlier, but you need to be careful because free dining might not have been released, and most of the time, if you're coming from the UK, if you're flexible on your hotels, you are more than likely able to get free dining. Yes, yeah. It's never really been an issue for us. I'm not saying I can guarantee it because it does run out, but most we've never had an issue and we've not booked within the first few weeks of free dining ever. Um, but with our DVC stay, we needed to wait till the 11-month window because that's when the hotel rooms became available and also when the flights became available.

SPEAKER_05 6:35

And that was one of the times where we had to book a lot of different things separately.

SPEAKER_02 6:38

Yeah. And again, if you're doing that, it used to be the case that if you waited a little bit, the flights might come down in price. This year, for the first time, that wasn't the case. We booked quite early on because we were like, we just want it done, we just want to know that we're definitely going and we've definitely got the flights. And I was then monitoring groups on Facebook and stuff, and people saying that prices just keep going up and up and up.

SPEAKER_05 7:02

Well, when we booked this year, we were I mean, for this year, we obviously we booked uh last September.

SPEAKER_03 7:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 7:08

Um, the prices had already already gone up by £250 in the two-week window where we looked at it originally, and then we were waiting for the hotel room. And yeah, £250, and and as you said, once we'd booked, the the prices kept going up. It was it were quite alarming in a way.

SPEAKER_02 7:25

Yeah, and there were circumstances around that um that caused that to happen that we'll talk about a little bit later. Um, but it's it is important if you know you're going to do it, yes, it's once in a lifetime. It's really, really hard to nickel and dime a trip like this because you have to get everything at exactly the right point, and that's really difficult to do.

SPEAKER_05 7:51

It can be detrimental to actually sometimes go, Oh, we'll wait for something to come down because there is no guarantee that anything's gonna come down. And you know what, sometimes it does.

SPEAKER_02 8:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 8:01

Like absolutely sometimes it does.

SPEAKER_02 8:03

And it did a little bit for us, and we were like, oh yeah, what have we done? But then at least we knew we'd got the flights that we needed.

SPEAKER_05 8:10

And then there are years it doesn't. Yeah, absolutely. And if you get caught short, it might be another year you have to push Disney back, so it's always something to think about.

SPEAKER_02 8:19

With a package, you can book that much earlier. The travel agents can book flights before the flights actually come out. Well, let's get it. Because we did about 18 months before last one.

SPEAKER_05 8:29

Let's get on to packages then. You you've just mentioned packages, so let's get on to that. So, in terms of booking for a package holiday, roughly, I mean, it can be up to nearly a year and a half before we've done a year and a half, definitely. A year and a half before the the holiday happens. Um, so it's one of those things that you can book well in advance, which gives you a lot more time to save for the holiday, especially if you are going quite close to the uh the red line. Yeah, um, it a year and a half gives you uh gives you a lot more time to save. Um I mean Trisha, we've done a year and a half. I think we've booked about a year in advance. Yeah. Obviously, with DVC, that was probably the closest we've ever booked to a um a Disney holiday, 11 months. Yeah. Uh but with packages, uh, I think if we're talking to uh people who are going for the first time specifically, if you are if you are somebody that is possibly planning their first ever Disney holiday, I would say go to your uh package providers. Okay, there there are quite a few. We're gonna talk about obviously our experiences with some of them, mainly Virgin.

SPEAKER_02 9:37

Yeah, we've only as a couple, we've only ever booked through Virgin.

SPEAKER_05 9:42

Well, I mean, I myself, I have only ever gone through Virgin until our upcoming holiday. I have only ever gone through Virgin. I've uh that that's that's been my only carrier, my only uh package provider.

SPEAKER_02 9:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 9:54

I know you you've travelled uh I think what once or twice separately?

SPEAKER_02 9:58

Yeah, we did a different company. I cannot for the life of me remember their names. Um but they were I mean they were great, but we were staying in a villa, so I think we did everything separately at that point.

SPEAKER_05 10:13

Um but I mean I mean we've got friends that have gone through other providers, and again we'll talk about those in a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 10:20

And they've had great experiences as well.

SPEAKER_05 10:22

They've had nothing bad to say about it at all. So go and see different package providers because when we went on our honeymoon, we went to that year it uh we went to Tui first. Um it was a decent uh package offer, uh a little bit more expensive than we wanted it to be. Um and of course we weren't flying straight into um MCO, were we?

SPEAKER_02 10:45

We were at that time, it's changed since. So Tui now flying to Melbourne rather than MCO, which is about an hour and a half transfer, which is absolutely fine.

SPEAKER_05 10:59

It's just a little bit more time on the road or on the journey, really.

SPEAKER_02 11:02

And that sometimes makes their flights a little bit cheaper, but you do need to take that into account, and with a little one, MCO is sort of 20 minutes, half an hour-ish from the Disney parks. Yeah. Um Melbourne is like an hour and a half, yeah. And when you're landing at sort of three o'clock Florida time, so eight o'clock UK time, and you've been up since four o'clock in the morning, for a toddler who's excitable, and if anything like our toddler did not sleep, then that's a long, long time to then be sat in a transfer or on a coach or whatever.

SPEAKER_05 11:42

Friends of ours that um they went last year, uh when we went last year as well. We flew on the same day.

SPEAKER_02 11:49

Pretty much the same time.

SPEAKER_05 11:50

Yeah, they I think they were what an hour behind us.

SPEAKER_02 11:52

Uh if that, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 11:54

Uh they flew an hour later than us. Um they got and ironically, it was completely coincidental. They not only flew on the same day to Disney, but they stayed in the same hotel in Disney.

SPEAKER_02 12:07

They ended up being like round the corner from us, didn't they?

SPEAKER_05 12:10

Yeah, about three doors down from us. Um just irony's upon irony. Uh they went to Melbourne because they went through Tui. Yeah. Uh and they uh got to the hotel probably about three and a half hours after Mm.

SPEAKER_02 12:24

Yeah, we'd got there, had a meal, and were in bed when they arrived.

SPEAKER_05 12:29

Yeah. And and they'd arrived about three and a half hours after us. Um so again, which if you're prepared for, yeah, absolutely fine. But again, if you've got little ones, that is definitely something to take into consideration because we know from uh when we took Little B last year, it hits hard. Yeah. Um when it when it gets to about uh probably that twelfth or thirteenth hour of travelling, it hits hard.

SPEAKER_02 12:57

And similarly, I've done Journeys to Florida where we've flown to Newark, done immigration in Newark, and then um done a domestic to Florida, and that was hard. And the layover was only a couple of hours, which you need because you've got to pass US immigration, which in itself is um it's long, yeah, understandably, they've got to check everything, they've got to check Esters and everything, but um yeah, it's it's tough.

SPEAKER_05 13:27

Yeah, yeah. So going if if like I said, if we're talking about uh first-time travellers, package holidays are a really, really good way to go.

SPEAKER_02 13:39

And I think if we didn't have DVC, we would still depackage because it's so much.

SPEAKER_05 13:43

Oh, every time, yeah, and that's that's the main thing about it. It's easy, okay. Um, it everything is done for you. Um, you you come into the places, you say, like, this is what we've got to spend, what kind of Disney holiday can you sort out for us? And they will do the hard work. Yeah, they will say, Look, we've got this hot uh these hotels on offer for you in terms of your uh price bracket, um, the flights are sorted, uh the tickets are sorted.

SPEAKER_02 14:09

And they do it all the time, so they know everything. So if you've got questions about Esters or whether visas or they've done it all, yeah, anything like that, they know what they're talking about.

SPEAKER_05 14:19

Yeah, they've done it all, they've done it all and seen it all. So it's uh we like I I think you're right, we would still use package every single time.

SPEAKER_02 14:26

Oh 100% and and it's at all protected most of the time, so it's safe to which is really important. Remember the volcano a few years ago.

SPEAKER_05 14:35

Well, everything today, it's always it's always a little bit rocky, isn't it? And uh so yeah, that is that is very, very important. Um but also that you like I said, that that customer experience, it's nice to know, especially if you're going for the first time, that if you've got any questions or any worries, there is somebody that knows what they're on about that you can instantly talk to. I mean, we we've had to speak to uh the US before uh when we phoned Disney in the past haven't we when we've had um when we've had queries. Yeah. And Disney being great, like they've they've answered our questions, but the problem is it's not always the easiest to get hold of from the UK.

SPEAKER_02 15:12

And it can end up costing you a lot of money as well.

SPEAKER_05 15:14

As we found out for a few minutes for one phone call that cost us a hefty amount. Um so having like reps in the in the UK uh from different travel agencies. And at the airports, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:26

There's I mean, we can only attest virgin, that's all that we've ever travelled in the package. But there were reps at the airport. When we did it, there were reps at Disney Springs. I don't know if that's still the case or not.

SPEAKER_05 15:38

I think that's finished now, hasn't it?

SPEAKER_02 15:40

Pro yeah, because it was pre-COVID. So yeah, probably.

SPEAKER_05 15:43

Which was really good. That was really good, but I think I think that's finished now. But in terms of kind of obviously uh airlines you can fly with, so we've spoken about Virgin.

SPEAKER_02 15:54

Um yeah, so if you are choosing to do it separately, so you're choosing to book your flights, say you've got a friend that's got a villa out there already, so you know you're wanting your flights separately, your tickets separately, etc. Um, yeah, we've we've chosen Virgin again this year.

SPEAKER_05 16:11

We have.

SPEAKER_02 16:11

There's BA do flights direct from so our our airport of choice is Manchester Airport. Yes. So um when we were looking into DVC, one of the things that we priced up if we could afford and how often we could afford to go, we priced up based on Virgin, didn't we? Because we knew that actually that would be our preferred carrier of choice. However, we also looked at other companies as well.

SPEAKER_05 16:42

Airlingus.

SPEAKER_02 16:43

Yeah, so BA came up very similar to Virgin. Airlingus was quite a lot cheaper, so we were like, great, excellent.

SPEAKER_05 16:52

Went from Manchester.

SPEAKER_02 16:53

However, and this was one of the things that made the flight, the Virgin flights this year go up in price. Um, Erlingus no longer go from Manchester Airport.

SPEAKER_05 17:04

They they stopped direct. I think it was it was either March or April they stopped flying uh direct to um to Orlando, and it's caught a lot of people out. It's caught friends of ours out who are flying with um with Airlingus. It's it's um it's not been great, has it?

SPEAKER_02 17:21

Now there are actually some real hidden benefits to this. So Airlingus fly through Dublin. Dublin has its own US immigration, so you pass through immigration in Dublin and then you are effectively on a domestic flight. Yes. So when you arrive in MCO, you don't have to do immigration, you go straight through. Definite advantage. Anyone that has come off an international flight in MCO knows how bad that immigration hall is. Hoping it's a little bit different this year with new terminal C and going to baggage before immigration, but we will have to see.

SPEAKER_05 17:57

And we will feed back, don't you worry? Yeah, we will we will feed back on that one because that'll be something new for us.

SPEAKER_02 18:02

But um that layover in Dublin and having that US pre-clearance, um, I know has really benefited a lot of people um flying from the UK, and actually would be something that I would consider because that first leg from Manchester to Dublin is so short that you're not exhausted by the time you do your layover, yeah, etc. Um, and it does save quite a lot, and I've heard great things about Erlingus as well.

SPEAKER_05 18:33

Oh, great things, I've I've flown Airlingus uh a few times, um, not full long haul flights, more short haul flights, but uh I I do like Erlingus. Yeah. If Erlingus is listening to us, uh big fans or Virgins or Virginia or 2A or BA or anybody who would like to fly us out to Florida. To be fair, Virgins had enough of my money, they know I'm a big fan. Like if they've not realised that yet, they they need to get a bit of a grip. Um uh but yeah, I mean uh 2E again, we've like I said we've had friends that have flown out on 2A, they can't recommend it highly enough. No for us, the only thing is of course that it doesn't go uh direct into MCO, but uh when little B's are a little bit older, yeah, it's something to definitely think of. Because at the end of the day, if you can get the flight as cheap as possible, it means that you are you are gonna save quite a bit of money because these days actually it's the flights that are costing just so much. So any way to get a bit of a cheaper flight.

SPEAKER_02 19:34

The flights is like half the cost of your holiday. And something that makes coming from the UK so much harder because you know, you're talking about one and a half to two thousand pounds, depending on when you need to go, per couple, per person, even sometimes. And that's a lot of money for just the flights when you've then not got theme park tickets, you've then not got the dining plan, you've not got your hotel room.

SPEAKER_04 20:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:05

Um, just really quickly, theme park tickets, shop around for them. You can actually get some really great deals on theme park tickets. You just need to be really careful that you use a reputable provider. Yeah. So we have used attraction tickets direct this time round. There are lots and lots of others, but please, please do your research. You should be able to link your Disney ticket to your My Disney Experience app before you even get to the US. I did ours about six months ago. So, you know, if you can't, there is something wrong.

SPEAKER_05 20:40

But however, however, again, if you are going with package holiday, they sort it out for you. And in the grand scheme of things, their ticket prices are decent. They were very inflated. No, not at all. Um, so um that I mean that is good to know because sometimes you think when when you're with the package holiday, they're gonna gouge you a little bit. Because actually, it's not the case.

SPEAKER_02 21:04

We booked our original like the last time we went to Florida, we booked the hotel, the flights, and the dining plan because the dining plan is linked to the hotel room, not the theme park tickets, and said we'll go away and think about the tickets and see what we can get elsewhere. And actually, everything was coming up at the same price, so we went back and said, Look, add them on. It's exactly the same, it's absolutely fine.

SPEAKER_05 21:28

One of the other things that we look at uh when we're booking flights as well, and and and booking the holiday, we always try and get the earlier one, don't we? The earliest flight as possible. Um, and again, we know friends uh uh we've gone out a little bit later, but we try and get the earliest one as possible simply because it gets us into Orlando a little bit earlier. Yeah. So it's that very, very first day of being in Orlando. We don't go to parks, nothing like that at all, because by the time you got through immigration and baggage claim and got to the hotel, it's still sort of five o'clock. Yeah, yeah, it's still sort of late into the afternoon and you're tired and uh to go to the park when you I know people that do though.

SPEAKER_02 22:06

Well each to their own people that go to Disney Springs or Yeah, e each to their own.

SPEAKER_05 22:11

You know. Um and I suppose uh again when little bee's a little bit older, that might be an easier thing to do.

SPEAKER_02 22:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 22:18

But we'll be a little bit older as well. That might not be as easy a thing to do.

SPEAKER_02 22:22

We're sort of people that extend our holiday as much as possible. So we go to an airport hotel the day before. Yeah. So actually getting up I mean, again, last year we found that we were getting up at the same time we'd be getting up to go to work, so it made no difference to us at all. No, no, it didn't. Um but it just got us in that little bit earlier.

SPEAKER_05 22:39

But this year for us, I think it's the latest we're ever flying out. Yeah. And I mean, uh Virgin they used to do two flights a day. There'd be a one early and kind of one midday flight or just after midday.

SPEAKER_02 22:51

Yeah, there was like an 11 o'clock and then a one o'clock.

SPEAKER_05 22:54

But it used to be uh quarter past ten. Yeah, yeah. Uh I mean I've flown on the 747s when I was younger. I missed the 747s. They were lovely planes. I miss them so much. But we used to fight a flight at quarter past ten. Now they're they've they've merged down to just one flight a day, um, and it's leaving uh about midday, something like that.

SPEAKER_03 23:14

Yeah, yeah, half to go.

SPEAKER_05 23:16

A bit later on. Um and that does have a that does have effects if you want to get in, you want to enjoy a little bit of that very, very first evening in but also it's not even that for us.

SPEAKER_02 23:26

It was making sure that Littleby and us before Littleby even existed was in bed at a time that would be his normal bedtime if his body clock was on Floridian time. Um so obviously it's five hours later than he would normally go to bed, but if his body clock's on Floridian time, what's his normal bedtime? Yes, so that that jet lag still hits, you're still up at four o'clock in the morning, but it doesn't hit as hard, and you can actually enjoy that first day in the parks.

SPEAKER_05 23:59

Yes. No, absolutely, you you you you bang right there. Um and then uh talking about the planes themselves, so this used to be actually more of a thing. Because back in the day, in the good old times, uh Virgin used to fly 747. Some of the other characters, 2E, I don't think, did fly 747s, um, and Airlingus didn't fly 747s. Um I I don't know about BA, um, but Virgin always used to fly 747, and the leg room was nicer. I mean that th they were older planes, and yes, they did change over time, and you the leg room got less and less. Um, but with it being uh one of the older planes and the bigger carriers as well, um that used to be something that we thought about. What what is the carrier?

SPEAKER_02 24:47

It's never been an issue for me.

SPEAKER_05 24:49

It's always been the thing for me. Like, what is the carrier? We've been on we've been on a a few carriers now. We did once go on uh and I I don't know if you were with us. I really can't remember if you were on the holiday or not.

SPEAKER_02 25:02

The Airbus.

SPEAKER_05 25:04

No, the Dreamliner.

SPEAKER_02 25:05

Oh no, I wasn't. I think I just heard the story.

SPEAKER_05 25:08

Yeah, I think it was when we were dating, but we'd only just started dating, you didn't come on the holiday with us. Um and we thought the Dreamliner was gonna be amazing, and it had come up from it had come up from I I think Heathrow, and they used it in Manchester. I think it's back down in Heathrow now. We did not like the Dreamliner at all. It was a noisy plane, a really noisy plane, and we paid that year for um we we were in premium, but we paid for the extra leg room, premium I think uh economy, sorry, but we paid for premium economy for the extra leg room, and it was a a middle aisle, and it was basically where you come to like the natural partition before you go to toilets, and going out was fine. Coming home though, people decided to use that as a a walkway, um, and of course, like you've got your legs stretched out um and and you're trying to get some sleep, and every two or three minutes people are walking over your legs because the toilet on that side is full, and so therefore, well, there's this walkway here, so we'll we'll just walk over these people's legs. No, that's that's not a walkway, um, and and that was especially when you're trying to sleep on the way home, I think, and you're woken up every five minutes by people because the cabin's dark as well, so people are tripping over your legs, and that was a bit frustrating.

SPEAKER_02 26:29

I think the ultimate dream is particularly for the way home because of it being a night flight, is business class and those lay-down beds.

SPEAKER_05 26:39

Yeah, but I think that again that's something when little bees are long. Oh, yeah, you couldn't do it with a toddler. With toddlers or even just kids, it it just it just doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_01 26:47

Because they're such separate seats.

SPEAKER_05 26:49

Yeah, but it would be w wonderful one day to try something like that.

SPEAKER_02 26:53

Very expensive seats, extremely expensive seats.

SPEAKER_05 26:55

Not anything that we very much out of our price range. Yeah, very much.

SPEAKER_02 26:59

To be honest, I'd rather go more often and have an economy seat, but that's just me.

SPEAKER_05 27:04

Yeah, but there are but there are there are obviously there are different carriers, uh, and they they they don't vary as much now. They did back then, 10-15 years ago, you actually had a choice. Whoever you book with, your plane might be different, and that might be a good difference or a bad difference. Today, it's that there's there's not much of a difference with them. Um, but obviously choosing your seats and how much you can afford for that premium economy, economy, and if you can go something better, but great, more power to you.

SPEAKER_02 27:37

It's another one of those situations where you've got to do what's right for you and your family. For us, economy is fine, neither of us are particularly tall, little be is still small, three seats together is ideal. Um we know it's eight, nine hours we get through it. Go in economy, it's not cheap, yeah, but it means we can go a little bit more often than if we were to stump for something a bit more expensive. But you know what? If you can afford it and you want to do it, do it and please let me know how it is because it is the dream.

SPEAKER_05 28:15

Absolutely. So that comes to you've booked the holiday, you've waited all that time, you've got a toddler, yeah, you've got a toddler, you've got a couple of toddlers with you, and you're thinking to yourself, this is that it could be our first time on a plane, or it could be our first time going long haul flying, you've done a bit of short haul, it's not the same, it's not the same.

SPEAKER_02 28:35

You've got it in your head that we're gonna be little darlings because on that hour and a half flight to Disneyland Parish they were incredible.

SPEAKER_05 28:41

Well, it it was. I mean, when we went with Little B, he was uh was he a year and a half older? Is he just turned two at that point? He just turned two, yeah, just turned two.

SPEAKER_02 28:51

Um and he was delightful because he was two, he had his own seat, which was definitely a benefit. Um, I think he was again, you know your own child. Little B was incredibly independent. If he'd had to sit on our knees, I don't think we'd have had the experience that we had. But he sat there, he was playing with stuff, we'd taken loads, we used hardly any of it because he was just excited and wanted to get going.

SPEAKER_05 29:16

The only issue we had on the flight out to Paris was the fact that he'd got the seatbelt on and he just wanted to play with the seatbelt.

SPEAKER_02 29:24

He loved playing with it.

SPEAKER_05 29:25

Off on, off on, off on.

SPEAKER_02 29:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 29:27

But by the time we went on the flight back, he knew how to use a seatbelt and he knew that he had to keep it on, and there was no issues whatsoever.

SPEAKER_02 29:34

He was genuinely he was incredible.

SPEAKER_05 29:37

Lulled us into a false sense of security. Massively. Lulled us into a false sense. So obviously, a year later, we're ready for the long haul flight.

SPEAKER_02 29:45

Yeah, so we get to the airport hotel, we have a lovely meal the night before. He's great. We have a really good sleep, he wants to go to sleep, which, unlike the year before, where he told us that um he just talked at us all night. Yes, because we were in the same room from the rope. Yep. Um no, he wanted to go to bed, he was excited, he was great when he got up in the morning.

SPEAKER_05 30:08

Um we we ate in the airport, he ate he ate a really, really good breakfast.

SPEAKER_02 30:14

We got it through security, all of that was really easy. I have to say, Manchester Airport was great for all of that. He ate a fantastic breakfast, he was fine when we were sat at the gates, um, he did a bit of running around, but he was totally fine. He was great when we got on the plane.

SPEAKER_05 30:32

Well, it was uh that's when it started when we got on the plane. So we decided to buy him a uh captain's hat.

SPEAKER_03 30:42

Yep.

SPEAKER_05 30:42

Uh because I had a captain's hat when I was little, and of course, what do adults do, especially adults that work on the airlines? They they love it.

SPEAKER_02 30:51

Oh, captain. Exactly.

SPEAKER_05 30:53

Yeah, they they they love it when they see a little kid coming along, and it's oh hey captain, how are you doing? You're gonna find it.

SPEAKER_02 30:58

They were great, and again, this is Virgin because that's who we flew with. But it's not just a you see it all the time.

SPEAKER_05 31:03

Anyone from any airline and captains and first officers, and yeah, we're saying it to you. Yeah, and of course, and of course, he loved it. You could see he was strutting along, um, and it was lovely to see. Uh, until the moment, of course, he got on the plane. And as we went through the sea, yeah. Well, as we as we started boarding, we we went through the gate, and of course, they're they're checking your tickets as you're going in like on the bridge to the plane. Have a good flight, Captain. Are you gonna fly us, Captain? And then, of course, we get onto the plane, and they they're welcoming you onto the plane and checking our tickets, and of course, again, the lovely uh air steward and air stewardess on the plane. Oh, Captain, it's good you're on board. And then, of course, we have to turn right towards to go down the plane.

SPEAKER_02 31:46

We got to our seats.

SPEAKER_05 31:47

No, we didn't. No, we did not.

SPEAKER_02 31:50

Oh, I missed that bitch.

SPEAKER_05 31:51

Oh no, we did not get to our seats. So we turn right, and immediately, Howie knows this, because this is only his second time on a plane ever, I have to go that way, Daddy. I must go that way. And I said, Why? And he said, I am the captain and I am fly I am flying this plane. To which at that point you realise, oh no, yeah, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. And you're gently telling him, Well, you can see if you can fly it later on. You're thinking, please, you're gonna let this go, fly it later on. No, no, he didn't let it go. And if you remember, we managed to start carrying on moving a little bit further forward until one very, very nice gentleman, very nice gentleman who was sat in a seat greeted him and said, Oh, Captain, what are you doing down here? That was a straw that broke that was a straw that broke the camel's back because even a passenger had validated his claim that he needed to be down the other end of the plane flying this thing to Orlando and he lost it to the floor. And if you remember, we had to kind of start dragging him along, and he would cling on to every seat that the the like the the legs of the seat until eventually we managed to pull him off uh and sit him down.

SPEAKER_02 33:08

And uh the sticker books came out far earlier than they were supposed to.

SPEAKER_05 33:12

Some words were had uh things about maybe Mickey Mouse not coming to see him, um and his hat was stored safely in the overhead compartment. Thankfully, thankfully, he let it go. He he had his 30 seconds of being absolutely devastated and trying to to to get to the front.

SPEAKER_04 33:33

I had totally forgotten about that.

SPEAKER_05 33:35

Oh, it's seared into my memory. Um and to the friend that suggested we get him the pilot's hat, I've not let that friend uh forget it. But and I will be buying pilot hats for that friend because they are taking their children this year. They are uh their two boys, uh, and it's their first time flying ever. I'm not just gonna get them a pilot's hat, I'm gonna go for the full uniform. Uh, and they must be worn on that flight. I will have vengeance.

SPEAKER_02 34:04

I want photo evidence of that.

SPEAKER_05 34:06

Oh yeah, so so do I.

SPEAKER_02 34:07

Um that hat did come in useful though.

SPEAKER_05 34:11

It did later, yes, it did later, as we were studying immigration, and he decided he was well, he was he was feeling unwell, it'd been a long, long flight. He was blessing, yeah. And he was tired, yeah, and he just said, I don't feel very well. We knew what was going to happen, we got nothing else in the hand.

SPEAKER_02 34:28

I'd got the hat in my hand and literally just shoved it under his face.

SPEAKER_05 34:32

And thankfully got most of it into the hat. He did he did get uh a nice amount uh down his nana, and um but most of it did go into the hat.

SPEAKER_02 34:45

And US immigration were lovely with that as well.

SPEAKER_05 34:48

Thank goodness they were. They were but sadly the hat did have to go. Oh dear, the hat went into the bin. Yes, into the bin. But the rest of the flight, uh obviously we took off, he's enjoying himself. What were some of the things that we put in place for him? Because I think this is really important, and and our friends that are taking their children for the first time, they've been asking a lot about this.

SPEAKER_02 35:08

So Little B loves stickers, he has always loved stickers. Um, so I made sure we had an abundance of stickers, and we've got an abundance for this year as well. Different types as well, though, like stickers that could re-stick reusable ones. We had the ones where you get like the outline of the character and you put faces on it, or there's like a pizza slice and you put toppings on it. So we've got loads of those for this year as well.

SPEAKER_05 35:32

You even did uh one where it was stickers that would only be used once, but you got him a little notebook so each page he could create the character that he wanted, and then he almost saved it was almost like an album that he could save and he wanted to show that to lots of people.

SPEAKER_02 35:46

He did, that was great. Um, and we made sure that we kept half back for the flight home as well. Because yes, it's an overnight flight, but again, getting settled and stuff, they still need um a bit of stuff to get excited about, making sure that everything was new, he doesn't get any of his plane stuff before we're on the plane, not even at the airport.

SPEAKER_05 36:08

Yeah, um he's got a tablet yes, that we that we did buy specifically for going travelling. Yeah. I mean he has used it since as he's got a little bit older, but realistically that's that's what it was first bought and used for.

SPEAKER_02 36:23

Absolutely. Um the screen, obviously, I'd only ever gone short haul before my first trip to uh Florida, and so I'd been used to having to pay for the entertainment on a plane.

SPEAKER_05 36:36

But that do you know I I am old enough to remember uh watching movies on a long haul flight where the screen On the screen at the front. Yeah, where the screen is at the front uh and you you you tune your headphones into the number or whatever it is. Yeah, and the short haul ones. Yeah, uh but I remember uh the eight, nine hour flights to the US, sometimes ten, depending on where we went to, um, watching the screens at the front. Thankfully that has got a lot better as time's gone on and uh yeah, screens and and again my first ever experience of having screens in the seat was uh virgin when I was very, very little. And it was a 747 folks. Um but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:20

Multiple changes of clothes which were needed, they were very much needed.

SPEAKER_05 37:24

I mean again he was three, just turned three.

SPEAKER_02 37:27

Just turn three, newly potty trained, he could do it, but we were still having the odd accident. So we put him in a nappy for the flight because we thought let's just be safe, better safe than sorry. And I was actually really we did we did have turnly grateful, we did have an accident, but it was better than it could have been.

SPEAKER_05 37:46

It was 90% contained, yeah. And the only reason, really, that it was as bad as it was is he did want to go to the toilet.

SPEAKER_02 37:54

He asked, and we couldn't because the seatbelt at the time was out.

SPEAKER_05 37:56

Because there was quite a bit of turbulence on the way out, which is the first time we've actually had that on the way out.

SPEAKER_02 38:01

And I feel like now he would be able to hold it. Yes, he would be holding it. Then he couldn't. And I d uh this is probably way too much information, but I get a bit of a funny tummy on a plane.

SPEAKER_05 38:14

Oh yes, I I didn't want to know that.

SPEAKER_02 38:17

Um I'm fine, but you know Thank goodness.

SPEAKER_05 38:21

Is that why you take an extra change of clothes just in case? I've always wondered why halfway through the flight you come back.

SPEAKER_02 38:27

We've listened to this.

SPEAKER_05 38:28

Well you want to throw those things out there? I I am I am game to play.

SPEAKER_02 38:34

No, but it does it does mess with your digestion and stuff, the change in the altitude, um, and the change in the air pressure, and I think that played a big part in it as well.

SPEAKER_05 38:42

You keep making those excuses.

SPEAKER_02 38:44

Um we don't take snacks and drinks with us because long haul you get them at regular intervals. Actually, no. You take sweets.

SPEAKER_05 38:54

No, we we do take some snacks, and I was thinking about this today before we recorded the episode, um, because I thought, what does he eat on the flight? And we do take some of those um oh I can't remember what we call that, kind of like flapjacky bic uh biscu um Oh yes. Uh because he he is, I mean he still is a bit of a fussy eater.

SPEAKER_02 39:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 39:14

Um and we thought if he doesn't want to eat any of the food on the plane, we need something. It's dry food, it's easy.

SPEAKER_02 39:21

Yeah, you need to be careful because US immigration is very tight on fresh fruit and stuff like that. So we just don't even take anything like that that could get pulled up through the side.

SPEAKER_05 39:31

It was just it was just a uh a children's um kind of like a biscuit with a with a uh a fruit filling in it, um dry dried fruit filling. Yeah we we took those with us. Yeah um but in terms of like proper food, no, we didn't take it. Uh we we relied on the plane and just lots of wet wipes. He oh yeah, tons you take tons of wet wipes because you just don't know what's gonna happen. And of course uh he had his explosion, which was mostly contained, but we need we did need to change the clothes. Yeah. We felt really, really happy with ourselves because we brought that change of clothes. Yeah. Did we bring two changes of clothes?

SPEAKER_02 40:08

We put a change of clothes in everybody's hand luggage, so there was one in his, there was one in yours, there was one in mine.

SPEAKER_05 40:14

Yeah, so there was so there was three.

SPEAKER_02 40:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 40:16

And um and we thought one, excellent, we've probably gonna happen. Successful. Two, maybe three, we'll never get to the third one. That can just go straight in the suitcase, ready to be used in the holiday.

SPEAKER_02 40:29

You managed to change him in a plain bathroom, which in itself is like a miracle.

SPEAKER_05 40:35

That is an experience because those bathrooms, of course, are incredibly small. Yeah. And with the accident that he had had, yeah, it was um that that was I think one of my most triumphal moments as a parent ever.

SPEAKER_02 40:49

Because I remember you being really proud of yourself.

SPEAKER_05 40:51

I was. I was also traumatised when it came around when I was very, very proud. But then, of course, later on in the floor, well, I'd say close to the end of the floor.

SPEAKER_02 41:01

It was really near the end.

SPEAKER_05 41:02

He was he was having a snack that had been given by the plane. Um how what's the snack? Because he's had it since and he's done the same thing again.

SPEAKER_02 41:09

It was like a they don't the fruit winding.

SPEAKER_05 41:12

Yeah, it was like a fruit winder. Like I think it's like round-tree fruit wines or something like that.

SPEAKER_02 41:16

It wasn't a fruit winder, but it was like a fruit wind.

SPEAKER_05 41:18

And it was his first time that he'd ever had one of those. Uh, and he just somehow choked. Shoved it all in. Shoved it all in, choked on it a tiny bit, and then of course, that everything came out that he'd eaten so far on the flight. We weren't even expecting it, we couldn't get anything there fast enough. So, with about 45 minutes to go, we got to the second.

SPEAKER_02 41:42

I think the seatbelt signs had gone back on.

SPEAKER_05 41:44

I don't think they had. I don't think they had, but we were close to the end. 45 minutes ago, new change of clothes, and we're thinking, well, it's a good job we packed that third lot, but we're still probably not going to use it. And of course, we ended up using it. We uh as after we got through um border control, we went straight to the toilets, didn't even get the cases at that point, went straight to the toilets, and uh his third change of clothing, and that was when we went, please Lord, no more, no more. We're we're we're we're down, we're down to but by that point, at least we had the suitcases, yeah. We're down to number three, and uh this has started to get scary now, and thankfully he was absolutely fine. But had we not had three changes of clothing and I remember you saying to me, Is this not a little bit excessive?

SPEAKER_02 42:33

I did, and I went, No, I'd rather be more excessive, I'd rather have more than we need.

SPEAKER_05 42:39

And I think I complained about what was going into my bag because I do have most of the stuff that yes, I eat. Yeah, I I I'll I'll I'll always have the heaviest bag on my back and I'll take most of the like really heavy important things. And I was complaining saying, Do I need to put this in my bag? Like we we've we've we've got one in yours, we've got one in his. Do I need this? And you were like, Look, you never know what's gonna happen. I mean, you were spot on. Well done, congratulations.

SPEAKER_02 43:06

I think we went through a full pack of baby whacks on that flight.

SPEAKER_05 43:08

We did, we did, which was like amazing.

SPEAKER_02 43:13

But you know what? He couldn't control any of that.

SPEAKER_05 43:17

No, and the stuff he could control, he was great, he was really well behaved, he wasn't affecting other the only thing he did that was on him in a way was was his little bit of a meltdown. And bless him, he thought he was gonna be the pilot. Everybody had told him in the entire world, uh, in the two hours before we got onto that flight that he was gonna be the pilot. What what what else is a is a three year old meant to think at that point in time? So I I'll I'll I'll let him off a little bit um with that one. But yeah, the other stuff, it is just one of those things that happens, and you've got to be ready for it.

SPEAKER_02 43:54

Yeah, I think that's my top tip is I think I have two top tips that I have learned from. From last year, and again, I did my research from a lot of other people before. Um, that is the toys for the plane need to be brand new, they need to be exciting, yeah, they need to be stuff they've never seen before. Absolutely put some old faithfuls in there. If they've got a teddy that they are obsessed with, put that teddy in there. Yeah, if they've got um a certain toy that you know will keep them quiet for a really long time, do it. Try not to pick stuff that bits drop on the floor because that's a nightmare.

SPEAKER_05 44:31

We've learned our lesson a bit from that because one of the uh reusable sticker books that we used, lots of small stickers, they fell on the floor, they were things that were important to him that can get upset, it's stressful for you because you're rummaging around on the floor. There is one other thing, um, and that is headphones as well.

SPEAKER_02 44:50

Yeah, we bought him headphones.

SPEAKER_05 44:52

Which, to be fair, we always take our own headphones anyway, don't we? Because actually, um, I mean, if anybody's tried this, they might have realised the headphones that you're given on the plane aren't very like in terms of sound quality are not very good at all. Yeah. When you use your own headphones, obviously they have to be wired ones, uh, but when you use your own wide headphones, the the sound is much, much better at a definitely smaller volume as well. You're not having to have it blasting in your ears. And so he could use his headphones on his tablet, yeah. But if he did want to listen to um the screen in front of him as well, which he did sometimes, yeah, but wasn't kind of really taken by it the that holiday, was he?

SPEAKER_02 45:31

No, I think he will be more this time. He sits for a lot longer than the floor.

SPEAKER_05 45:34

He wants to do lots of different things, which is good that we had lots of little different things to do. Um, but he could also plug those headphones into the screen as well on in front of him, and he could listen to that there. Sometimes there are some issues um with the with the jacks, yeah, but we found last time that actually it wasn't just our headphones, it was their headphones as well. It seemed to be the place.

SPEAKER_02 45:54

Um mine in particular, I had to like hold it down and see.

SPEAKER_05 45:57

It was it was the ports themselves, but that that's sort of a a trick that I learned over the years. Actually, if you bring your own headphones, you do get a better sound quality, and you don't have to have it as high in volume either and blowing in your ears.

SPEAKER_02 46:10

And I think my second tip would be go back to being as prepared to leave the house or to get on a plane as you were when they were a newborn baby.

SPEAKER_05 46:21

Yes, that's a really, really good shout.

SPEAKER_02 46:23

When they were in when little bee was newborn, we'd have changed the clothes, we'd have new nappies, we'd have snacks, we'd well, not snacks, but milk, we'd have blankets, we'd have everything you could possibly imagine. You need to be that prepared when you're taking a child on a plane. And I think that's a child of any age. Um, because uh you know, things can happen and you're trapped in a small space with them.

SPEAKER_03 46:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:47

Um and no, you're not going to um the ends of the earth or whatever. And you can buy stuff in Disney and there's targets and there's Walmarts and all that sort of stuff.

SPEAKER_04 46:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:57

But when you're on that plane, you can't. And one thing I discovered the air stewardesses can't help you when it comes to things like being not very well because they have food preparation to do, so they can't help. They can bring you bags and they can bring you towels and stuff like that, but they can't actually help because they can't touch anything because then they have to go and prepare food. And that wasn't something that I'd ever thought about until we were in that situation.

SPEAKER_05 47:30

And I think over time rules and regulations change as well.

SPEAKER_02 47:33

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 47:34

It definitely was different a long time ago.

SPEAKER_02 47:36

I totally understand. I a hundred percent agree that they can't and that they shouldn't. It just wasn't something I'd thought about at all.

SPEAKER_05 47:45

Anyway, though, I think that brings us close to the end of the episode, which means it is that time again for our quick fire questions round. Uh, as to tradition, Mrs. B, you will go first. Uh so first question window seat or aisle seat?

SPEAKER_02 47:59

Window. No, aisle, I mean aisle.

SPEAKER_05 48:02

Aisle, aisle seat, okay.

SPEAKER_02 48:03

Aisle, I need to be able to get out.

SPEAKER_05 48:05

I was gonna say that, I was like, that was a surprise. Uh second question then, direct flight or stopover?

SPEAKER_02 48:11

Direct, with the exception of I would be okay doing the Erlingus Dublin stopover because you get that US pre-clearance. Okay. That would make sense to me.

SPEAKER_05 48:23

Uh, favourite airline snack?

SPEAKER_02 48:25

I really like the sour cream um onion pretzels that they do. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Or I really like that Virgin give you an ice lolly towards the end. Again, I can only speak for Virgin because it's the only one I can really remember long haul, but they're my two favourite things.

SPEAKER_05 48:44

Uh one thing you always pack in your hand luggage.

SPEAKER_02 48:47

Ooh headphones and baby wipes. Yes. They're my two.

SPEAKER_05 48:54

Uh tablet, yes or no.

SPEAKER_02 48:56

Yes. You're on a flight for eight hours. Like, I mean, we're we're happy for him to have his tablet within Reason at home anyway, but on a flight, I'm not having that argument.

SPEAKER_05 49:06

Yeah. Uh favourite Disney film to watch on a flight?

SPEAKER_02 49:10

I really like that newish films are usually on the planes, and that again, that's with any airline. Um, so whatever I can get my hands on that I've not seen.

SPEAKER_05 49:20

Yeah. Uh best airport for uh starting a Disney holiday.

SPEAKER_02 49:26

We've only ever done Manchester.

SPEAKER_05 49:28

I have for Disney. I have.

SPEAKER_02 49:31

It's not your turn.

SPEAKER_05 49:32

Oh no, it's not my turn.

SPEAKER_02 49:33

Um so for me, Manchester.

SPEAKER_05 49:36

Uh and what's the first thing you do when you arrive in Orlando?

SPEAKER_02 49:40

Eat. We eat. We tend to go to the room. I suppose that's the first thing we do. Go to the room. Um if we've got chance, shower the plane offers. Yeah. And then eat.

SPEAKER_05 49:53

Okay. Not too bad this time. Well done, yeah. Right. You got through that one quite quickly. Right, hit the Okay.

SPEAKER_02 49:59

Window seat or aisle seat.

SPEAKER_05 50:01

Window seat.

SPEAKER_02 50:02

See, they say opposites attract.

SPEAKER_05 50:03

They do say opposites attract. Um, and it was one of the first questions when we dated. Yeah. Um no, I've always loved the window seat. I've or ever since being a little kid.

SPEAKER_02 50:13

See, I need to be able to just get out.

SPEAKER_05 50:15

Little little bee can never ask for the window seat. There are lines in the sand. Um so yeah, window seat.

SPEAKER_02 50:22

Uh direct flight or stopover?

SPEAKER_05 50:24

Direct. Always. I've done stopovers. I've done stopovers at different places, um, not just Disney holidays. Um sometimes the stopovers are nicer than others. Yeah. Uh, but that direct flight is always so much better. So I would always say direct.

SPEAKER_02 50:38

Favourite airline snack?

SPEAKER_05 50:40

Hmm. This is a hard one for me because I'm not a big fan of airline food.

SPEAKER_01 50:45

Me neither.

SPEAKER_05 50:46

Um, I have had food poisoning on an airline once upon a time. It was a virgin. Bear in mind, virgin, like we really like you. Um it was it was when I was much younger. So I'm not a big fan of airline food. However, I do like any chocolate puddings.

SPEAKER_01 51:01

Ooh, yeah, they usually go white.

SPEAKER_05 51:03

And and and on most airlines, there is always a chocolate pudding or some kind of chocolate dessert. Always good. Chocolate dessert, chocolate pudding, chocolate brownie as well.

SPEAKER_02 51:12

That they do, that was the first time I tried those Mantiberry Dragles um chocolates, and they are my favourite chocolates.

SPEAKER_05 51:18

I didn't realise that was where like where they came from in terms of you wanting to love chocolate, so yeah, I would say anything chocolatey with chocolate puddings, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 51:27

Nice. One thing you always pack in your hand luggage.

SPEAKER_05 51:30

Um headphones. Yeah. Yeah. Um that that was a game changer for me, travelling, headphones.

SPEAKER_02 51:37

Yeah. Tablet, yes or no?

SPEAKER_05 51:40

Yes. Because it's just more options. Yeah. There are more options there.

SPEAKER_02 51:43

Yeah. You kind of have to not throw your morals away, but you just kind of have to go, you know what, eight hours of their lives. Um favourite Disney film to watch on a flight?

SPEAKER_05 51:55

I don't. So I'm gonna say no Disney films.

SPEAKER_02 51:57

No, you watch like whatever's new, don't you?

SPEAKER_05 52:00

Uh what whatever's new or things that sometimes maybe you won't want to watch with me. Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 52:06

I love it when they put like a comedy series on as well, and you can just watch the entire series or something.

SPEAKER_05 52:10

That's right. And if uh Little Bee's asleep and it's something they've kind of like a higher age rating, I'll usually watch that um on the flight back.

SPEAKER_02 52:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 52:20

Um to to eat up some time.

SPEAKER_02 52:22

Best airport for starting a Disney holiday?

SPEAKER_05 52:25

Best airport for starting a Disney holiday, uh, I would say Manchester. I have flown from other airports. I don't think it's a Dis Disney holiday that I did though. So I I couldn't say for Disney itself, but yeah, Manchester Airport, because that's the only one I've ever flown from for Disney itself.

SPEAKER_02 52:41

Yeah, we're a bit rubbish in that, aren't we?

SPEAKER_05 52:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 52:43

Uh what's the first thing you do when you arrive in Orlando?

SPEAKER_05 52:46

My first thing that I do when I arrive to Orlando is I go to the fountain. Um, not this year. And I and I thank the Disney gods that I have returned to Orlando.

SPEAKER_02 52:58

And you hear the clack, clack, clack, clack.

SPEAKER_05 53:00

Yeah, yeah, I love that. Although we no, we will be going back uh to the main terminal because that's where our connections are. Are they not, has that changed as well?

SPEAKER_02 53:08

You can get we're so we're getting the Mia's Connect um service to take us to the hotel. Yeah, I'm sh pretty sure you can get it from Terminal C now as well.

SPEAKER_05 53:19

Really?

SPEAKER_02 53:19

So so No more buddy dye. No telling us on the monorail, welcome to Orlando.

SPEAKER_05 53:26

No I don't want to go. I don't want to go.

SPEAKER_02 53:30

I'm very excited about Terminal C. I'm very I am not it looks so much better. I am not because again, I love MCO so much, but the departure gate for MCO is just small and not worthy of a Disney holiday.

SPEAKER_05 53:50

Wow. I know Well, in the words of Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear, on that bombshow, um uh we'll we will uh we'll start saying goodbye. Before we go though, or going you want to say.

SPEAKER_02 54:01

No, I was just gonna say, we obviously have a very sort of um narrow tunnel of how we've booked having only ever gone with virgin, etc. etc. We would love to know your opinions um and different ways that you book holidays because we're very new to this booking individually thing as well. Um and you know, if you've got any different airlines that have worked, or different layover spots that have saved your fortune, or different ticket companies that have been fantastic, or um travel agents, like independent travel agents that you've used that have been able to book it all separately for you, anything like that, please, please let us know. We'd love to share other people's experiences as well.

SPEAKER_05 54:48

And your tips and tricks of having young children on a plane. Yes, please. Especially more than one child as well. Especially more than one child. Um, because obviously we only have one at the moment. Uh I'm sure it's a lot different with two or three or something like that.

SPEAKER_02 55:02

So we're hoping the stickers still do the trick.

SPEAKER_05 55:05

Uh but anything that you have to offer, please do get in touch. Uh our details are at the bottom of the page, as always. Um, so so yeah, please do. And what I was just about to say as well is uh we have had people get in touch with us and it's been really, really lovely. Uh so exciting. Really lovely for people to get in touch. Uh people get in touch with us uh via Instagram uh and uh and other means as well. Um, and it's been nice to just talk to people that are that are listening to us out there. So uh thank you very much for those of you that uh have have have messaged us and validating me a little bit. Exactly, yes, yes, indeed. But for those that have messaged us, thank you. And if you do want to message us, we will try obviously get back in touch with you as quickly as we possibly can. Um but yeah, no, thank you so much because it it does mean uh a lot to us, that doesn't it?

SPEAKER_02 55:54

It's really nice to hear of people who don't know, don't get me wrong, I love the fact that people we know listen to us um as well, but people who have no reason to have to listen to us, listening to us is really lovely. So thank you so much.

SPEAKER_05 56:13

We know that people are listening, because obviously we can see, can't we, from our from from our our our podcast that we can see people listening, but to actually have somebody reach out and talk to us, that is really really lovely. So thank you for those people that have reached out and spoken to us. Absolutely, it does mean the world. So, next episode then packing. We are talking about packing because it is getting close to the big day of travelling. So, next episode we will be talking about packing, some things we've already touched on a little bit this episode. Uh, but yes, we will be talking about all the things you definitely need to pack, making sure your uh cases are of the right weight, especially if you want to bring home some goodies.

SPEAKER_01 56:54

Not taking ridiculous amounts of sun cream.

SPEAKER_05 56:58

Absolutely, absolutely. So that will be coming up on our next episode of Brits in the Magic. And until then, see you real soon. Take care, everybody.

SPEAKER_02 57:10

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 57:20

Brits in the Magic, a family Disney podcast, Disney parks, family adventures, and a fresh British insight.