A short notice November trip... with a twist! Day 10 - The long travel home day

9th November

(I had no pictures today so I've added in a few more from the Osbourne lights to brighten things up)

Today we were going home :( We got up at about 8.30 and started packing our bags, this took quite some time and housekeeping knocked on the door shortly before 11 to check if we needed anything before we left! We eventually left the room with about 2 minutes to spare before 11 :)

We put our stuff in the car (with the exception of the bag with our passports etc) and got an early lunch at the Contempo Cafe. I’m pretty sure Rob had a flatbread and I had a turkey sandwich; I refilled our drinks before we got in the car and started towards Miami.

Both of our luggage straps had broken and I needed some sweeties for work so we stopped at Walmart to pick up a few bits. We successfully got what we needed and I picked up a cute Minnie Mouse t-shirt for me :)

The drive to Miami was typically dull and we had some spells of heavy rain along the way. We stopped at some point and got a quick snack at the weirdest McDonalds that we have every experienced!

We continued onto Miami and had to search for a petrol station to top up the car before we returned it. We found one but due to the rain they had power issues and so couldn’t sell any petrol, a few blocks around the corner and we managed to find some.

We arrived at the airport at around 1700, this was fairly early as our flight wasn’t until 2130 but we didn’t have time to do anything else so we returned the car.

We took the MIA mover across to the terminal and headed to check in; the queue was quite long but it moved quite quickly and we dropped off our bags. We took a quick wander around the main terminal but didn’t find anything interesting so we went through security.

Security was easy and quick and we were on the other side in the most boring airport ever (every time we fly into/out of Miami we say this!). We decided to get some food so that we could sleep on the plane; there are only 2 or 3 choices so we chose pizza. It wasn’t exciting but good enough, we found a seat near a charging station and topped up both of our phones.

We actually boarded the plane early and we were getting all excited about a possible early departure when it all went a bit wrong.

We sat there for ages and we noticed that one of the ground staff was on the plane talking to another passenger; we are still not clear what happened but he was taken off the plane along with his bags. The cabin crew then checked all of the overhead lockers nearby and checked with the remaining passengers to ensure that they belonged to someone who was still on the plane.

The Captain then made an announcement that at least 2 passengers had been offloaded and we now had to wait for their luggage to be removed from the hold. We eventually took off about 45 minutes late and thanks to a shorter flight time we arrived back at Heathrow about on time. The flight was fine, although we slept for most of it so we didn’t really experience it! We did have the breakfast which was some yoghurt, granola and something else (I forget what).

We walked about a million miles to passport control and for once the magical e-passport gates worked for me (I struggle due to the need to remove my glasses); we were stunned by the poor manners of the border control staff – one of them yelled at some man for no reason at all and was quite merrily using their mobile phone when we are frequently warned not to!

The bags took a little while to appear but thankfully the new luggage straps had survived. We wandered out of the terminal and amazingly a bus to the car park arrived just as we did (yay!) We got back to the car and were quickly on our way, the drive home was uneventful and we collected the dog from the kennels.

We somehow also managed to view 2 houses later that evening (some of you will remember that we accepted an offer on our house the day before we went away.) We made an offer on one which wasn’t accepted but found another the day after and are in the process of buying it :) Hopefully if all goes well we will move early in the new year :)

A short notice November trip... with a twist! Day 9 - Hollywood Studios and the Osborne Lights

8^th November

We had a really late start due to the party last night (how old do we sound?!) When we did eventually get up Rob did some ironing as most of my tops had been returned quite crinkled. Boring stuff done and we headed to Hollywood Studios for our last park day of the trip.

We decided to get an early lunch at Backlot Express, we both had the turkey sandwich although in hindsight we should have shared one. I had booked all of our fast passes for the afternoon/evening and due to the irritating tiering we had picked Toy Story over Rock n Rollercoaster.

We decided to see what the standby wait was for Rock n Rollercoaster, it was posted as 60 minutes but we decided to get in line anyway. We entertained ourselves in the line using our phones and our actual wait was about 45 minutes so not too bad. The ride tends to bash my head a little bit but I still love the launch at the start :)

We took a leisurely wander across the park and decided to watch Muppetvision, I think I was expecting something a little more like Philharmagic but it was still cute. We continued our wandering and stopped to watch the little Jedi’s training; I so wish I could do this but I’m too old :(

We took a quick break in the Backlot Express for a drink before it was time for our Star Tours FP. The wait time was around 30 mins so it wasn’t too much of a waste, this ride is really clever and we like all of the different sequences.

In preparation for the cooler evening we popped back to the car to collect our jumpers along with my Minnie ears and Rob’s lights.

By the time we got back it was almost time for our Toy Story FP. I really tried my hardest but Rob still beat me :( We then had a little wait before our dinner reservation at Sci Fi so we watched a little bit of the pre show for the Osborne lights.

We checked in for our dinner and it turned out that they were closing earlier than normal (I think it was connected to the Wine and Dine half marathon). We were seated in the middle of a car between 2 other couples; I ordered the turkey sandwich with fries and Rob had the picnic burger. He started to feel full so he didn’t eat all of his burger as he wanted a dessert.

I had the candy bar for dessert and Rob had a sundae I think. After dinner we took a quick wander through the Osbourne lights before our final FP of the day.

 

So, having saved the best ride for last we went across to Tower of Terror for a spooky ride :) We decided to turn off our lights so as not to spoil the ride for everyone, it was brilliant as normal!

 

 

We were going to leave after ToT but in the end decided to go back and watch the lights some more; we decided to try and track down all of the hidden Mickey’s – as a result I have loads of photos of the lights!

 

 

 

Video of my bow dancing with the lights

We ended up staying until the last time the lights danced for the evening before heading back to our room.

A short notice November trip... with a twist! Day 8 - Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

7^th November
This morning we woke up a bit later as we were still tired from our rollercoaster day yesterday. We headed across to get a light breakfast at the Contempo Cafe, I’m pretty sure that Rob had a muffin and I had French toast with cherry syrup.

We popped to the front desk to check on when our clothes would be returned and to send our remaining clothes to be treated. In a weird twist we discovered that Disney has a code word for bed bugs and also that they refer to the Contemporary as ‘the toaster’.

Rob wanted some more bike stuff so we headed to the Harley Davidson shop off I4. He got himself some new foot pegs which he seemed pleased with.

On the way back we got a late lunch at the Earl of Sandwich, this all took much longer than I had expected and we were heading back to the resort around 3pm.

We arrived back to find our suitcases and clothes back in the room, we quickly unpacked everything and checked that nothing was missing. As it was getting close to 4pm we quickly got changed and walked to the Magic Kingdom (this was the positive outcome of our move – no buses or boats to get to the MK.)

I had booked us some fast passes for the first 3 hours and wanted to get a few rides in before the party started properly. I started us off with Peter Pan using FP+ as we haven’t been on this ride for a couple of trips, and then we were off to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train as I had managed to grab a FP for this a couple of weeks before our trip :)

We had a little bit of time before our next FP so we decided to watch Philharmagic, this is a fun show but we don’t always make the effort to watch it.  Just love the ending when Donald crashes into the wall!

We then made our way across to Adventureland for our last FP; I had selected the Jingle Cruise as it’s a nice update for the Christmas period and seemed to fit with the party theme. Weirdly my favourite bit of this ride is when we get to see the wonder that is the ‘back side of water’!!!

Now apart from our first day which was quite chilly we had been having fairly warm weather but by 6pm it was already starting to feel cooler than it had been on previous nights and so we decided to pop back to our room and grab some jumpers (we would be incredibly glad we did later).

So, having checked that we would be ok to re-enter the park we took a brisk walk back to our room. Rob changed into jeans and we both grabbed our jumpers before briskly walking back....!

We re-entered the Magic Kingdom at around 6.30 and headed to Fantasyland to see how long the line was for the Seven Dwarfs, I forget the time but it was already much longer than I was prepared to wait so we decided to skip it.

Rob wanted some of the Christmas lights that you wear around your neck. We found a cart in Liberty Square which was selling them but they had ran out, we were told that they had them in the Christmas shop so we popped right across and got him a set. In the meantime I had decided I wanted a set of the light up ears with a Minnie bow so we got them next :)

 

By now it was 7pm so we got some cookies and hot chocolate in Columbia Harbour House and picked up a couple of the special party pins at the Trading Post. Rob noticed that the Haunted Mansion had a short line so we took a quick ride.

I really wanted to meet a special party character so we headed toward Storybook Circus looking for Minnie Mouse.

 

She was just outside the entrance and the ducks were opposite (I had met them last year), her line looked long but we actually only waited about 15 minutes. She seemed super excited about my bow :)

 

 

We decided to work our way towards Main Street for the fireworks and along the way took a quick spin on the Tomorrowland Speedway and then I challenged Rob to another go on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin (I lost yet again!)

We got to Main Street around 9pm and found a spot just at the edge of the hub with a great view of the castle, we were behind a family who had children and they were at the front of the area (just behind the magic tape on the floor). Rob and I were stood behind the parents who were just about the right height so that we could see past them.

 

 

Celebrate the Magic started at 9.15 and I realised that there were some details that I had missed when watching previously, it was great having a clear view for once. Annoyingly there was a family that had arrived after us that were complaining the whole way through because their children weren’t at the front. I’m not entirely sure who they were aiming their complaints at but it took the shine off a little bit as they seemed to expect everyone to move for them.

Holiday Wishes started at 9.30 and they were fantastic, last year we got stuck in a slightly odd spot and had a tree blocking some of the fireworks whereas this year we had a great view. Being at the entrance to the hub we also had fireworks going off all around us which was amazing, I’m a big fan of normal Wishes (and viewing from outside the park) but Holiday Wishes is definitely better when you are right in the middle!

Fireworks over, we headed towards Liberty Square to find a spot for the second parade, my preferred spot was already taken but we found a front row spot opposite the Liberty Tree Tavern. We sat on the floor because we still had ages until the parade started, this turned out to be a slight error on our part because by the time the parade started our legs were starting to ache!

I definitely prefer the Halloween parade but the Christmas parade is still fun, although the Frozen additions are possibly a little bit of overkill (but I understand Disney’s logic). Unfortunately due to lighting issues I wasn’t able to get very many good photos.

 

 

 

 

After the parade we were really getting chilly so we decided to leave. We didn’t want to follow the parade so we walked through Fantasyland and Tomorrowland; I picked up some more hot chocolate at Cosmic Rays to warm up a bit. Then we wandered down Main Street in the snow and got a quick photo taken on our way out.

A short notice November trip... with a twist! Day 7 - The one with the twist!

6^th November

Before I start today’s entry I would like to write a bit of a disclaimer. As referred to in the title, there was a twist in this trip and it occurred on day 7.

As you read you will see that things did not exactly go to plan today BUT what I would like to make clear from the outset is that Disney went over and above to rectify the situation and as a result they turned the negative into a positive (albeit with a bump along the way). This is in part why I continue to visit Disney – for the amazing customer service that they provide. This entry will also be quite long.....!

So, today was our planned rest day. I had booked us a character breakfast at the new Four Seasons hotel. They only offer the character breakfast on Thursdays and Sundays currently and they do not accept the Disney dining plan, they also do not have the ability to charge to magicbands as they aren’t a Disney resort. As a result this breakfast was much quieter than the other character breakfasts that I have been to in the past.

They offer a fairly standard buffet breakfast and you can also get eggs made to order (including omelettes). Goofy is the main character at the breakfast and he is accompanied by Mickey and Minnie; there is a photopass photographer present but they only guarantee to take the photo with Goofy.

 

The breakfast was nice if a little expensive, you have to pay $5 for parking and I think with that and tip we paid around $100 for the two of us. The good thing about the photopass at this location is that downloads are included even if you don’t have Memory Maker.

Unfortunately our server lost our claim check for the valet parking so we had to explain this when we returned to the valet stand. Thankfully they were able to recover our vehicle easily :)

On the way out we were able to see a few of the houses that have been built on the Golden Oak development – this is definitely where I will be buying my Florida home if I ever manage to win the lottery.

 

 

 

After breakfast we were off out shopping, we had been asked to look for some Frozen sparkle dolls for Leona (Rob’s niece who came with us in Feb) so we headed to Toys R Us, the dolls were the same price in dollars as they are in pounds. When we got home I discovered that using my post office credit card 2 had cost around £23 whereas they would have cost £34 over here!

Next up we headed to the Premium Outlets on Vineland Avenue. I had been asked to look for a mug for a guy at work and managed to find it at the Character Warehouse for a bargain price (so I picked up 2 for him). I then started a big hunt for some jumpers for me. I only managed to find one that I liked in the US Polo Association shop :( We picked up a few other bits and then headed back to Pop.

When we arrived back at our room we were a little bit confused. One of our beds was fully made as normal but the other had been stripped and then it looked as if the housekeeper had just walked away. We then noticed that there was a vacuum cleaner in the room and we had a voicemail on the phone.

We were asked to call housekeeping and told that a manager would be up to see us in a few minutes. By now we realised that there was an issue so I returned our shopping bags (which we had just walked in with) to the car.

The manager arrived and we received confirmation that our housekeeper had found bed bugs :( Unfortunately this had been what we expected and we believe that Rob saw one whilst we were waiting for the manager to arrive.

She explained that the building manager was on his way and there was a set procedure for how they deal with the situation. Obviously this involved a room change for us, although by now we were a bit creeped out so we asked if it was possible to move to a different resort. The building manager said he would make some calls.

The next step in this process is that they were to send all of our clothes, suitcases and other belongings to be treated to ensure there was no way to transport any bugs home with us. This obviously posed a problem as we would need clothes for the next day; at this point we were told to go and buy what we needed and Disney would refund us the cost. We were allowed to keep our electrical items, passports etc and our toiletries so these were all packed into a plastic bag to take with us. We were also unable to take any of our snacks with us, but we were offered a credit on our room to ensure we weren’t out of pocket.

The building manager came back and asked us if the Garden wing at the Contemporary would be an acceptable alternative......obviously we said yes! We were told that we could head over there and they would be expecting us. So, we headed to the Contemporary and a cast member quickly checked us in. We checked that all of our room charges etc were still on our account and then went to find our new room. We dropped off our shopping bags and our few belongings before heading back out to the shops to buy some clothes.

 

 

 

We actually went back to the outlets as we had seen some reasonably priced items that would work for the next day or two. Unfortunately I had to buy a pair of shoes as I was wearing my least comfortable pair (and hadn’t anticipated wearing them all day), I also had to try and find somewhere to buy underwear – which I had never previously thought about whilst shopping in Orlando! Walmart to the rescue on that count :)

Back to the Contemporary and true to their word Disney deducted the cost of our clothes from our existing room charges; all we had to do was present our receipts. By now it had reached about 8pm and we abandoned our plans to go out to dinner and got something from the Contempo Cafe (which was fine just not what we had planned).

I had considered popping up to the Top of The World Lounge to watch Wishes but we ran out of time and so we watched from the stairs a couple of floors up from the Contemporary viewing deck ,not quite as good but it was free.

By now we realised that our day had caught up with us and we were actually quite tired so we headed to bed.

A short notice November trip... with a twist! Day 6 - Magic Kingdom

5th November

Today we were headed to the Magic Kingdom, my favourite park! I can’t remember what time we arrived here this morning (forgot to write in my notes!) but it was a little while after opening as we stopped at the bakery to get a cupcake for me and Rob a brownie for breakfast.

 

We headed into Tomorrowland and used our first FP at Space Mountain before we got in line for a quick spin on Buzz Lightyear, the posted wait was 25 minutes but it didn’t take us much more than 10.

Having missed out on our last trip due to renovations we took a nice relaxing ride on the Peoplemover before we headed onto Fantasyland. The line for It’s a Small World was only 10 minutes so we went on – much to Rob’s delight :)

 

Continuing along we took a quick ride through the Haunted Mansion as the line hadn’t yet reached ridiculous levels (since the introduction of FP+ this ride seems to have suffered in the standby wait times). We both really enjoy this ride and after the Key to the Kingdom tour we did earlier this year we have an added appreciation for the details.

Our next ride was Big Thunder Mountain using our next FP. We actually don’t think this ride is as exciting as the majority seem to – it’s a fun ride but not spectacular. We do generally take one ride each trip though.

Next up we had a late lunch booked at The Plaza, this is such a small restaurant – I didn’t realise this until we had lunch there a couple of trips ago. We both had sandwiches here and Rob couldn’t manage a dessert. I had a sundae, although I really struggled to finish it :(

 

 

 

I really wanted to watch the Festival of Fantasy parade all the way through so after lunch we headed back to Frontierland to find a spot. Unfortunately it was busier than I had expected and although we got a spot in the second row I stupidly picked the wrong side and so we were looking into the sun the whole time :( This made for very bad photos and was a slight disappointment.

 

 

 

After the parade had passed we decided to take a chance on riding Pirates of the Caribbean, the posted wait was 30 minutes and we probably waited around 25 in the end. They are still not using the back row of the boats (I assume in connection with the incident earlier this year) which doesn’t help the inflated wait times that have resulted from FP+.

Our final ride before leaving for our break was Splash Mountain using our 3^rd FP, we love this ride but at this time of the year you have to pick your times a little more carefully. I had booked our FP for 4 till 5 so that if we got really wet we could go back and change. We managed to avoid the water cannon but did get reasonably wet on the drop but the sun was shining :)

 

 

On our way out I selected an additional FP for Space Mountain for around 8pm with a plan to ride before the fireworks. There was still a reasonable amount of FP available with the obvious exceptions of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Anna and Elsa.

 

 

We had a rest in the room for a couple of hours and then headed back to the Magic Kingdom for the evening. As we were using the 4 day DVC passes we had only planned one day in each park. I had picked this day as it offered the best crowd levels but was a night when the Main Street Electrical Parade was not scheduled. Imagine my surprise when we walked through the tunnels to find the MSEP just starting at 8pm!

We quickly found a spot just in front of Town Square Theatre which given our late arrival offered a surprisingly good view. I managed to get a few nice photos, but I did have to abandon my plan of riding Space Mountain again today. I tried to cancel the FP but it wouldn’t work for me.

 

 

 

We got sent down the bypass after the parade had passed so we sat on a wall outside The Plaza whilst we waited for it to finish passing the end of Main Street. After the masses had passed by we attempted to reach Main Street to wait for Wishes, it was quite crowded but we managed to reach the taped off section and select a spot.

I must admit I will be glad when the work in the hub is completed as I am not a fan of the way everyone gets squashed together. We kept getting moved forward and it gets a little close for comfort. We did have a fairly good view of Celebrate the Magic and Wishes :)

 

As it was getting slightly chilly I decided to pick up a coffee from Starbucks on the way out (they were also using the bypass again to ease congestion) and as the 2nd ferry dock is now in use we walked straight onto the ferry. Back to the parking lot quickly and we were back at Pop in about 10 minutes.

A short notice November trip... with a twist! Day 5 - Animal Kingdom

4th November

Today we were heading to the Animal Kingdom. We got up later and left around 9.

We got to the parking lot and were parked in a very odd spot! They had us drive across the grass and then we were parked in what I think was normally where they park coaches...!

We headed through bag check and decided to get breakfast in Rainforest Cafe; we had originally planned to get a muffin or something in the park.

It was fairly quiet in the restaurant (in terms of people not noise level). Rob had an omelette and I had scrambled eggs, sausage and breakfast potatoes with toast. The portion size was huge and it cost $33 (plus tip) whereas yesterday we paid $23 for 2 paninis and a drink in Epcot!

Into the park and our first ride was the safari using FP, there were still quite a few animals about, although we were already too late for the lions.

I had planned our fast passes quite close together and so it was already time to ride Expedition Everest. After we were done we had some spare time so we went for a wander.

The posted wait for Mickey and Minnie was 15 mins so I decided to get in line whilst Rob went to watch some birds nearby....it actually took about 40 mins (!) and whilst in the line I got pushed past by a young girl (about 7) and her parents did nothing to stop her.

By this point it was time to ride Dinosaur using our 3rd FP, we always find this ride to be just a little bit too loud but it’s fun anyway :)

We weren’t quite finished with the park (although we didn’t want to do everything today) so we went to watch Flights of Wonder at 1.45.

Rob called home quickly whilst we headed across and I popped to get another FP for Everest for later (2.25 - 3.25). We have seen the bird show several times now but it was great as always. We took our second ride on Everest and then we decided to head out.

Rob was having trouble with his red magicband (it didn’t want to open our room door) so we stopped at guest relations to see if they could fix it, the cast member actually seemed confused as to why we wanted to use more than one and couldn’t figure out the problem.

We decided to try the concierge at Pop and they took a few minutes to do something but the red band was working when they were done!

We took a look in the shop and picked up some Star Wars bandits and some screen protectors for our phones (Jack Skellington themed) before going back to the room for a rest.

This evening we had dinner booked at Sanaa; we have eaten here 4 times previously and have a couple of favourites on the menu. We started with the bread service (the 3 different naans) and all of the sauces.

They have changed a couple of the items so I had the tandoori chicken whilst Rob had the slow cooked ‘butter chicken’ and ‘chicken vindaloo’ with basmati rice.

The only slight disappointment is that the chai cream remains off the menu (it was in the dessert trio) and this was Rob’s favourite part of the dessert :(