Osborne lights one last time... oh and quite a lot of shopping too! Day 1 and 2

Thursday 17th Dec

This morning we headed down to the lobby to check on our booking; we had booked hotel, car and flight through BA and there was a free breakfast offer which we had forgot to ask about last night. Rob asked at the front desk and after a short wait we were given vouchers for the buffet breakfast for the week. 

So, now we had vouchers we headed to the restaurant to get breakfast. The buffet was pretty big with a nice selection of food including omelettes made to order. We had some hot food and some pastries with orange juice and coffee. We weren’t entirely sure of the cost of breakfast so tipping was interesting - in the end we left $5 and hoped that was enough!

Next up we headed over to Disney Springs as we wanted to get tickets to see the Star Wars movie on Monday - it was already sold out for Thursday, Friday and we had plans for Sat and Sunday so Monday it would have to be…!

We left I4 at exit 67 and took the new ramp straight into the Orange garage, much easier than it had been earlier in the year and we had no problems finding a space (and this was the same for all of our visits this week.)

We tried using the machines to buy our tickets but apparently they can’t cope with international cards so we went to the counter and quickly paid our $33.50.

We had a little wander around the shops and got me some new ears and some lights for our visit to Hollywood Studios. We popped into the Lego shop and Rob decided to buy himself an AT-AT which was on sale…and took up significant space in our luggage on the way home!

We decided to go across to the Premium Outlets on Vineland Avenue, we did our usual lap around the shops, I think Rob got some ties and a few bits in Banana Republic. I was looking for some stuff but decided to check out some other places before deciding.

We dropped our stuff back at the hotel and then decided to get dinner at Johnny Rockets at Pointe, it was quite busy and so took a little while and we were getting quite tired by the end so we headed back to bed once we were done.

Friday 18th Dec

We headed down for our free breakfast again, we decided to have omelettes today and some pastries which was good. 

The forecast for today was overcast with showers so we decided to go to an indoor mall for a little while (you’ll note that the common theme on this trip is shopping!)

We chose Mall at Millenia and took a wander around, and after a while I chose some Disney Vans as part of my Christmas present from Rob’s parents (they had given me a budget for shopping) and I bought a bargain pair for $19.99 as well! 

Rob also got some Vans and some T-shirts and we found a really nice candle and holder for our dining room table. We stopped at Starbucks for a little rest and I got a peppermint mocha which was yummy!

We also checked the wait to meet Santa and it was several hours long…! But it was a pretty amazing grotto. 

Once we were finished we headed back outside and it had brightened up a little bit which was good. We went across to Disney Springs to get an Earl of Sandwich, it was pretty busy due to Star Wars opening but we still found a parking space easily in the garage. 

I had the holiday sandwich and Rob had the Earl’s Club, both were just as good as always.  Once we were done we went back to the hotel and had a lazy evening catching up on some of our favourite HGTV shows.

Osborne lights one last time... oh and quite a lot of shopping too!

So, I'm a crazy lady and decided I needed to see the Osborne lights one last time before they leave Hollywood Studios. 

After much debating (mostly about price) I booked this trip about 2 weeks before we left.

In the end I decided to only buy a 1 day Disney ticket and so as a result we spent quite a lot of our time at the shops...! The first couple of days will be light on photos I'm afraid but there will be many in our Hollywood Studios day :)

Pre-travel (Monday 14th and Tuesday 15th Dec)

So, this was an unexpected trip and required 3 additional days of annual leave from work over my planned Christmas break. As a result (and the fact that work is on the way to the airport) we decided to drop the dog off at kennels on Monday evening and leave for the airport after work on Tuesday.

After we had dropped the dog off we headed home to make dinner and then did some cleaning (we had done most of it over the weekend) and packed our bags. 

Up the next morning for work as usual but it would be a good day in the office as once we were done….we were going to Florida!

We finished at around 4.30 and we headed off towards Gatwick. We stopped for McDonalds at Fleet services and I think we arrived at the long stay car park at around 7.20, we parked the car and got lucky with a bus just after we got there. We used the machines to get our boarding passes and to label our bags before dropping them off with BA. 

We took the shuttle across to the South Terminal and checked in at the Hilton. We decided against going to the lounge for drinks and snacks and watched tv before bed.

Wed 16th Dec

This morning we got up and headed over to North Terminal via the shuttle, once across we headed though security which didn’t take us long at all. We decided to have breakfast at Armadillos again after enjoying our food here last time. 

After eating we had a quick look around the shops and it wasn’t long until our gate was announced.  We boarded mostly on time and eventually took off about 20 mins late, the flight itself was fine although the last couple of hours dragged for me. The food was surprisingly good, the hot choices were: Sausage and mash, chicken curry or a veggie pasta; Rob had the sausage and I had pasta and they weren’t bad at all. 

The sandwiches later on were odd though, we were initially offered egg and tomato (just yuck!) and in the end I think we had checked salad which had way too much tomato in for me.  I continue to be puzzled by the sandwich fillings - I mean who thinks egg is a good choice on a plane? And tomato in both options?!

We actually landed about 20 minutes early in the end, although unfortunately at the same time as the Virgin flight from Manchester. Thankfully we were just ahead and so were off the flight before most of them. 

The line behind us was massive, we were also allowed to use the kiosks and so that speeded things up for us. This time we were told that Rob and I should only complete 1 customs form - I explained that we had been told the exact opposite on our previous trip and the guy looked very puzzled….we’ll see what they say next time!

We collected our bags within about an hour of landing but then had to wait about 20 mins for our car at Avis as Rob had chosen a 7 seater SUV (suburban or similar) and they didn’t have any ready.

The drive to Shingle Creek was easy and we were quickly checked in, although the elevator didn’t want to work so we got a room on a different floor!

We got pizza across the way from NYPD pizza before returning to unpack and then we were off to bed relatively early - I think I lasted until 9pm!