October half term is one where we like to get away. It seems to be the final fling of summer before the clocks change, the nights draw in and the weather turns. Usually it is a UK break where we head to Devon and enjoy crazy golf and seaside walks. This year it was a little different we had the delights of PortAventura to come. After Florida in the summer we thought we had done the rollercoasters for the year yet we were able to fit in some more! This time we took on the tallest rollercoaster in Europe. I shared this experience with Alice and all I kept saying was Alice this is high! However the post about PortAventura is coming soon when I have finished editing my video.
This post is about getting there or nearly not!
We had an early start as the flight was at 10.10 therefore we needed to be there at 8am and for us that meant a 5am set off time. The alarm was set for 4am and we slept in our beds like excited school children with bags packed by the door. My internal body clock is quite good for someone who loves their sleep as much as me and I glanced at the clock at 3.50am. I laid there for a few minutes enjoying the calm thinking that the clock would soon raise everyone else from their slumber. Travelling clothes were laid on the ends of beds and snacks were in the car. Yet the alarm never sounded and instead I shook Lee awake! As he showered at 4.25 his phone alarm went off he had actually set a second alarm which just about saved me being in a total grump with him but it would have been a rush.
Once on our way the kids chatted excitedly and they made plans. The roads were quiet and I sat back and daydreamed about the sun on my face that I was looking forward to feeling. Then the car came to a standstill and we realised that our journey would get more fraught. Looking at the traffic reports we soon realised that we were down to one lane due to an accident. Slowly we snaked through. Normally by this point I would be a nervous wreck as normally we parked off site somewhere and had the additional stress of parking and then transferring across to the airport. This time though we were travelling in style and we had a bit of buffer time.
We had Meet and greet parking at Gatwick from APH and we simply called them when we were half an hour away and they met us at the terminal and took care of all the parking. We simply jumped into the lift and were soon where we wanted to be. drinking a lovely mug of hot chocolate after quickly checking in. We flew with Veuling who made check in very easy and quick.
This video shows exactly what the service includes:
I think we have been spoilt because the meet and greet was perfect. It got our mini break off to the best possible start and now I don’t ever plan to do off site parking that requires a transfer again. This way we saved precious time and that is important when travelling with children. It gave us time for a bit of early morning airport shopping where Chloe even managed to persuade her dad to buy her a Harrods handbag – he has never bought me such a beautiful handbag!
Disclosure: We were given complimentary parking for the purpose of this post.
