3rd
December
A relaxed start to the morning with breakfast at the villa
and a wander across to Saratoga Springs for a bit of shopping. Paul and Tracey
had forgotten to bring sunglasses and we decided to buy some Magicbandits to go
on our Bands :)
We headed over to Epcot at about 1pm as we had a lunch
reservation at Via Napoli as part of the candlelight processional package.
We checked in and were seated at a slightly odd table right
next to a terminal that the wait staff use to place orders etc.
The meal was good (although Tracey wasn’t a big fan of her
pizza) but the waiter was a little distracted – and we had to ask for our
plates to be cleared when the main course was brought out.
Dessert however was lovely :) We paid the bill and I went to
get our tickets for the show.
The standby line was already really long when we got near to
the theatre...! Neil Patrick Harris is really popular. We had a wander around
and then eventually joined the package line to ensure we had a good seat (it
was our first time).
Whilst in line we were told most emphatically that we had to
wear our tickets (they had a sticky back). I did ask why we couldn’t just show
them and wasn’t given an explanation but just reiterated that we MUST wear
them. I was concerned that they would fall off and we would lose them (as you
also get Illuminations viewing later) but followed the instructions!
About 30 mins before the show (we were at the 5pm show) we
were allowed to enter the theatre. We initially sat in the front row and then
realised that would be too close so we moved back a little. In hindsight we
should have moved back and across a little more to be centred in the theatre.
The show was great and Neil Patrick Harris was fantastic.
How many people can open a show about the nativity with “What up”?!
He vanished pretty quickly from the stage once the show was
finished!
We left the theatre and wandered back to Future World as I
expected the World Showcase to stay busy for the rest of the evening.
We took a quick ride on Nemo and Paul thought about buying a
“Mine” t-shirt but decided against it.
By this point it was getting a little chilly so Rob and I
walked back to the car to get our fleeces. Finally we got to ride Soarin’ with
our FP+. No Test Track though cos of the stupid tiering :(
Paul and Tracey wanted to sit for a while so I headed over
to the Character Spot which only had a 10 min wait. I met Mickey, Goofy and
Minnie :)
We decided to head over to the Illuminations viewing area so
I picked up a cappuccino from Starbucks on the way.
It turns out the viewing spot is where we watched
Illuminations from back in September. It is a great spot and the fireworks
(with holiday addition) were fantastic but we did get quite a lot of firework
smoke and the odd piece of debris falling whilst they were going on!
Fireworks done and we headed back to the villa.
4th December
Breakfast in the villa again before heading off to Premium
Outlets for a bit of shopping. After about 2 shops Paul and Tracey were bored –
we went into Banana Republic and lost them for a little while as they had kept
going. I got a new dress and Rob got some jeans and a polo shirt.
Then we headed to Sketchers for some new shoes. We stopped
and got a drink at the food court and then did a little more window shopping
before we left.
We stopped off at Downtown Disney for some Earl of Sandwich
and a Ghirardelli sample :)
Back to the tree house and we had a quick chat with some
people back home via facetime.
We eventually headed over to Hollywood Studios and I had
booked us a few FP+. Due to the MagicBands not working earlier in our trip a
FP+ for Toy Story Mania had been unobtainable – but don’t worry as you can
change your FP+ options as you change plans ;) (I'm being sarcastic by the way)
First ride of the afternoon was Star Tours – although we
didn’t really need the FP+ cos the line wasn’t very long.
Once we were done we headed over towards Tower of Terror and
Rock n Rollercoaster. The posted wait time for ToT was 10 mins so we got in
line – Tracey decided she didn’t want to ride as she felt a little motion sick
after ST.
It quickly became apparent that the wait was going to be
longer but we stayed in line as we had a wait for our next FP+.
I think we eventually waited about 25 mins in the end. Once
we were done we headed over to Rock n Rollercoaster, I’m not the biggest fan of
this ride as it tends to bash my head but it wasn’t too bad this time.
Once we got out we decided to get some soft serve ice cream
before making our way to the Osbourne Lights. It wasn’t as busy as I had
expected and the lights were as good as I remembered!
We stayed for a little while and then went back over to ToT
for a final ride using FP+.
We were on our way back to the car and I asked if Tracey
wanted to take a quick visit to the Grand Floridian to see the decorations.
After being told it was late (it was 7.30!!!) we decided to pop in, so we drove
over to the Ticket and Transportation Centre and parked then took the resort
monorail across.
We had originally thought about booking 1 night at the GF at
the end of our trip but in the end we decided to be a little more cost
conscious and instead booked the Waldorf Astoria. As we walked in Tracey was
really impressed – and asked Paul why we weren’t staying here!
We had a look at the huge tree and the gingerbread house and
I couldn’t resist buying a shingle :)
Once we were done we got back on the monorail and went around to the Contemporary. They had a gingerbread stand set up too but it wasn’t quite as impressive as the Grand Floridian!
We decided that whilst we were here we would see if we could
pop up to the Top of the World Lounge – as we were staying in the tree house on
points.
We got up and ordered some drinks and then headed outside to
watch Wishes. So much more peaceful watching from up here than in the park;
makes me glad I bought BLT points so that on my next trip I can go back to my
theme park view!
Wishes over, we finished our drinks and took the monorail
back to the parking lot to pick up the car and head back to the tree house.
5th December
Breakfast at the villa again this morning and then we were
off to the Animal Kingdom. Managed to get moving a little earlier this morning
and I had booked FP+ for the safari for our first ride.
The standby line was quite long for AK so I was glad I had
booked. We managed to see lots of animals – we even got a glimpse of the lions
:)
Afterward we headed over to Everest, before we went on Paul
and Tracey had a soft serve ice cream. I decided to wait until later and in the
end forgot!
Tracey decided to buy the ride photo from Everest and we had
it sent to package pickup so that we didn’t have to carry it around with us.
Our next FP+ was for Dinosaur so we headed over that way,
Primeval Whirl only had a 10 min wait so we hopped in that. I don’t really know
why as we always complain when we get off that ride! I briefly considered
meeting Santa Goofy but his line was really long so I skipped it.
We got around to Dinosaur and were a little early so we took
a break in the shade while we waited. There was a bunch of cheerleaders in the
line and they were practicing cheers which was very annoying!
After a little wait we got on Dinosaur pretty quickly and
managed to avoid most of the cheerleaders.
We wanted to watch the Flights of Wonder show so that was
our next stop. We really like this show but I’m not sure that Paul was
impressed.
Afterwards we took a quick walk through the Pagani trail
before it was decided that it was time to leave.
I had tried to meet Russell
and Dug on our last trip but only got to see Russell so I wanted to try again.
I went to get in line whilst Paul, Tracey and Rob went to collect the ride
photo.
It took me about 25 mins but I saw both Russell and Dug!!!!!
I was super excited – Dug had tried to eat my bag whilst Russell was signing my
autograph book :)
I met up with the others at the exit and we headed back to
the villa for a late lunch.
After relaxing at the villa for a while we were heading to
Sanaa for dinner; Rob and I had eaten here in September and really enjoyed it
and Rob’s dad had selected Sanaa for his choice of dinner reservation.
We arrived a little early and took a look at the animals using the night vision goggles. There weren’t very many out and about but it was still quite fun.
We were seated promptly and we all ordered the butter
chicken with the spicy durban chicken although we were split on the choice of
rice. Tracey found the spicy chicken too spicy so swapped it for Paul’s butter
chicken!
Finally time for dessert :) Rob and Tracey had the trio –
although Rob was upset that they had changed it since last time. Paul had bread
pudding (I think) and I had the seasonal kulfi – this was blood orange and
pomegranate which was yummy. The last time it was banana which was also fab but
I liked the change!
Once we were done we did a little bit of shopping – I got a
new pin – and then we went back to the tree house!
6th December
This morning we were leaving the tree house and moving to
the Waldorf Astoria. Not quite the Grand Floridian but we do really like this
hotel.
We packed up our stuff and left the tree house :( We drove
over to the Waldorf to check in and leave our bags. When we arrived (around 11)
our rooms were already available so we got the bags brought up and headed back
out.
We decided to get another Earl of Sandwich for lunch before
upgrading Paul and Tracey to annual passes. Unfortunately we couldn’t get them
to budge from their price of $285 per ticket (I am pursuing this via email) but
as they were still cheaper than the tickets we would be buying for our February
trip we went ahead and upgraded.
Rob and Paul were going to go do some boy shopping (Lowes etc)
so they dropped us at the Contemporary so that we could walk to the Magic
Kingdom for a few hours.
We went straight to Big Thunder Mountain and got in line,
luckily we got there before the rush and the wait was only about 20 minutes.
We went and did some shopping on Main Street for some gifts
and then took a ride on the railroad. We decided to take a round trip and then
continue to Frontierland so we could see if Splash Mountain was fixed.
Luckily
it was so we used our fast pass to ride :) We got a pretty good photo so we
decided to buy it.
By now the boys should have been heading back to collect us
so we started on our walk back to the Contemporary. We got back to Bay Lake
Tower to find that the boys had got delayed so we sat on a bench in the sun.
Once they collected us we popped to Wal-Mart to buy some
sweets to take back to work. By now it was almost time to do online check-in
for our flight home so we went back to the hotel. Rob and I were flying Club
World and needed to select our seats (as I was not paying £65 each for the privilege)
– thankfully we were able to get 2 seats together :)
By now we were starting to get hungry again, we debated
going to the boardwalk to try the ESPN club but in the end decided to go to
Epcot as I had booked a FP+ for Test Track. We eventually got burgers from the
Electric Umbrella although this was not the best choice – I think I’ll stop
eating here.
We then used our FP+ to ride Test Track, I don’t especially
like the new design theme. Also, our ride vehicle didn’t show us any of the
information along the way – I’m not sure why not.
We decided not to stay for Illuminations so we headed to the
Waldorf for a quiet night.
7th December
Time to go home :( We packed our stuff for the last time and
checked out, dropping our bags with bell services for the morning.
We popped across to the Magic Kingdom where Christmas parade
taping was in full flow this morning. We did a little bit of shopping on Main
Street before checking in at The Plaza for our lunch reservation.
While we were waiting we got to see a little of the parade
taping – there were some poor dancers wearing woolly jumpers and hats etc!
Lunch at The Plaza was just as good the second time and a
nice way to end the trip. Rob decided to have the brownie sundae again – only this
time he actually managed to eat it!
Across to the airport and we dropped off the car. We took
Paul and Tracey to check in with Virgin – they were asked to volunteer to be
offloaded as they needed a seat on the plane. They were offered a free flight
each plus hotel, food etc but Tracey wanted to go home so they turned it down!
They got checked in and we headed off to drop our bags with
BA. We got our boarding passes and went through the fast track security line –
I’m sure they are nicer when you are flying Club World!
Once we were across to the gate we went to the Delta lounge –
much criticised on the internet but we found it to be quiet and we had a few
drinks and snacks while we waited.
After a while we decided to go and see Paul and Tracey at
their gate. We stayed with them for a short while before moving to our gate –
as we arrived they started to call for boarding!
Once onboard we were offered drinks and then fairly quickly
we were taking off. This was the day after the air traffic control issues – our
plane had been delayed by about an hour but other than that we had no issues.
We quite enjoyed our Club World experience, we had our
evening meal and then settled down to sleep :) The seat/bed was quite
comfortable and it was much nicer than economy (obviously) however, I think I
would only pay for Club for a night flight.
Shortly before landing we were offered breakfast, Rob had a
bacon roll and I ate his fruit.
Once we landed we were quickly through passport control and
we actually had to wait for our luggage to arrive.
A quick ride across to the other terminal to catch the bus
to the car park (call me crazy but the better hotel/parking package) and soon
we were on our way home to collect the dog from the kennels.
