Trip Report DVC, Dinosaurs, Buckets & Booze! Now with added London & Paris! COMPLETE!

Hello and welcome to my trip report! The title will make sense I promise… eventually!

We’ve actually been home almost 3 weeks now and I’ve been writing this report for about 2. I just haven’t sorted through all my photos (and had the Disney blues, which always makes visiting the Trip Report forum hard!) but I’ve got a nice free Saturday now to sort through the photos and feel ready to post

So I guess the DVC and booze part of the title is self-explanatory, so I’ll start with that! Having bought into DVC on our last trip… what better way to try out all the options now available to us then making this a super-split-stay… and staying in 6 different resorts!! Ok this wasn’t all completely intentional; it just kind of worked out this way (which will be explained shortly!)
It may sound crazy to some, but we actually loved trying out a bunch of different resorts over the 16 nights of this trip! 16 nights meant there was plenty of time to do so!

Now the booze element of the title… well, there was a liiiittle bit of drinking involved! If you’ve read any of my previous reports you’ll know we like a Disney Drink… or monorail crawl! It adds a little extra magic to the already magical day…

Originally I had wanted to name this report When You Wish Upon a Cronut, as leading up to the trip I had been day dreaming about all the delicious Disney food that exists in the magical bubble (don’t we all?!) and the Cronut in all it’s delicious-sugar-filled-butter-pastry-delicious glory is just one of the items that had been most on my mind! I’d not found one over here (in the UK) and there’s just something about sitting down and looking over World Showcase whilst increasing my blood sugar levels & calorie intake by a bajllion with that crazy pastry! Just one of those little ways of knowing I’M HOME when doing so.
However, I didn’t even end up getting a Cronut once this trip!! Despite being there for 16 nights this kind of became a theme of the trip in that some of the things we’d been daydreaming about and talking about doing or eating before the trip- along with some Disney staples- we somehow forgot to do or completely missed! So much so that back home our go-to joke phrase that we say or randomly message each other throughout the day is “Did we even Disney?!” that sometimes goes to “Did we even America?!” “Did we even plane?!”

Don’t get me wrong though, we still had an awesome time and the Disney blues are hitting HARD. It never gets any easier! I literally want to walk out of work every second (yep I’ve been writing this at work… when I can… ssh… who doesn’t go on the boards when at work?!) go get my husband and grab our passports and board a plane back to my real home. If I had the money to do so I wouldn’t look back!

So with all that info already (these first few posts are going to be wordy, sorry!) let’s get onto the who, the when & the where (x6 )

Who: Me (Sam) and my husband Russ

Ok how about a non drinking in Disney photo:

We’re from the UK and this was our 11th trip to WDW together (I grew up going, Russ’ first trip was with me) and our first full trip as DVC members! We purchased DVC on the last trip- and actually used a few points right there and then- but this felt like the first “official” DVC trip!

Now onto the when and where…
September 21st-October 7th
16 days of glorious WDW. I can’t believe that it’s over a month now since we left for the trip!

So our last trip was in November/December 2018 and of course the Disney blues had hit hard as soon as we were home and it all felt like FOREVER ago within a month of being back! Although we had some tentative plans in place already for this year, by March/April we had to get bookings secured and make it real so that the Disney blues could become Disney excitement!

So first a little background, because this trip had some changes! And it will also explain the amount of resorts…
Originally we had a Disney Cruise booked for September 28th-Oct 5th. We planned to do a week in WDW before that and stay another 2 nights after the cruise. Having bought into DVC on our last trip (woo hoo!) we decided we wanted to try 2 different resorts in that first week. We quite like split stays and we wanted to try out places we hadn’t stayed before, which now being DVC members allowed us to do. So our original plan was for 3 nights at Copper Creek (our home resort) and 4 nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge, before embarking on our cruise and returning for 2 nights at the Beach Club (our favourite resort which we have previously stayed at).

Then along came a slight spanner in the works. We secured Copper Creek for our first 3 nights and Beach Club for the last 2 nights after the cruise. However, AKL was only available for 3 nights- leaving our last night before the cruise without somewhere to stay. We thought we would waitlist AKL, but then I noticed a Theme Park View Studio at Bay Lake Tower was available for that night- and we thought why not? We were planning to do MNSSHP that night anyway, so it would be convenient for that- and we have also done split stays many times before, including 3 resorts in 5 nights once and we actually don’t find it that much of a hassle. So that became our new plan!

Then as happens sometimes, a second much larger spanner was thrown into the works. In May, a bit of a family emergency/situation came up that made it seem like we might have to postpone our trip. As it was quite up in the air whether we would be able to go- along with slight financial pressures- it seemed cancelling the cruise would be for the best. If it later turned out we could still go away, a WDW trip would be more than welcome. So we went ahead and cancelled the cruise, but decided to keep the DVC bookings since they were less of a commitment at that time.

We weren’t too sure until August whether we would be going ahead, when the family situation had settled and we knew we would be ok to take our trip! Whilst we were disappointed to not be cruising with DCL again (we’ve been trying to go again ever since we took our first Disney Cruise as part of our honeymoon nearly 4 years ago) it now meant we had over 2 weeks to enjoy WDW! It had been a good few years since we had stayed solely in Orlando for that long and we can’t wait! 16 days for all the parks, dining and resort time seemed like bliss! We had thought it felt a little rushed the past 3 or 4 trips as they had been shorter and/or filled with plans in & out of WDW (not that those hadn’t been great, we’d just been craving a long WDW trip). There are always so many things we want to repeat alongside new things to try- there never seems to be enough time no matter how long we’re there! And, as we’ve just found out anyway from this trip- 16 nights still isn’t long enough!! I think we actually did less than we’d planned for this trip than on our shorter trips!

So now that we knew we were going and that it would be 16 nights just in Orlando- the only issue was sorting rooms for the week that we originally thought we would be on the cruise for. This was a little more of a headache now with being way into the DVC booking window- and the announcement that Galaxies Edge would be open at that time!
We could only get 3 nights at Saratoga Springs for Oct 1st-4th. We booked it and waitlisted Beach Club/Boardwalk for those nights and hoped it would open up and swap us- and that the night of the 4th would become available either with points or the cash discount. Then I could align those nights with our DVC booking for the 5th and 6th Oct. We had our fingers crossed that we would get our waitlist for Beach Club and end up with 6 nights in a row there at the end!

That just left the 28th Sept - 1st Oct with nowhere booked (and no more points left!). So we decided to do those 3 nights offsite, to save money along with that we also wanted to visit some of the other non-Disney Orlando parks (sshh!) as well as some shopping and relaxing. Even this didn’t work out how we planned! I’ll explain when I get into that part of the trip, but we didn’t get to any off-site parks lol!

So, the waitlist literally 10 days out of the trip moved us to Boardwalk for the 1st-4th! That still left the night of the 4th to book somewhere before the 5th & 6th that we had locked down for Beach Club (are you still following?! ). There was no availability with points and no decent discounts for the night of the 4th at the Beach Club or Boardwalk- and since it was just one night it didn’t seem worth the rack rate- so we went for 1 night at Coronado Springs instead! A little crazy when being at the Boardwalk and then moving to Beach Club that we were then popping elsewhere on property for one night in between, but when the Boardwalk/Beach Club rates were near $600 and Coronado was $200… it was worth it. Plus we had wanted to visit Coronado during the trip anyway to see the new tower and restaurants. So for us, it was perfect!

And so, that was our crazy itinerary! For some it might seem like a nightmare, but we do actually like seeing and staying in different resorts- we’d done it before so we knew what it entailed- and as it’s just the two of us we don’t find it too bothersome. In fact, in some ways it makes the trip seem longer and more exciting getting to experience different resorts! We actually enjoyed waking up, calling bell services to collect our bags, heading out to a park and then coming back to a new resort afterwards! When we switched to AKL from Copper Creek our room was ready when we were back and we already had magic bands, so we simply went straight to our new room. It doesn’t usually take much time anyway to pop to check in on the way back from a park if need be- we usually time it so we arrive after check-in time anyway- and our bags have always arrived in a timely fashion after calling, if not having already been in our rooms! The only slight inconvenient time we had was when we moved on and off-site, as this meant we had to grab an Uber (we hadn’t hired a car) and take our luggage with us rather than being able to transfer. At Disney it was easy!

We actually a few years ago spent 3 months travelling- and most of our stays in various cities were for 3 or 4 nights! A couple were even 2 nights- so simply moving around WDW a few times over 2 weeks compared to new cities and countries every few days for 3 months was nothing really!

Ok, finally, here is what the itinerary actually was:
Sept 21st-24th Copper Creek at Wilderness Lodge
Sept 24th-27th Animal Kingdom Lodge
Sept 27th-28th Bay Lake Tower
Sept 28th-Oct 1st Off-site
Oct 1st-Oct 4th Boardwalk Resort
Oct 4th-5th Coronado Springs
Oct 5th-7th Beach Club Resort

I’ll get started on the report soon- I’ll just give a little info on what the trip plans entailed in the next post!

 

[Ariel1986]

Russ and I made our way back to the Boardwalk and decided we would have a pool afternoon followed by a trip to Disney Springs this evening. Homecoming was calling!

Back at the room Reymundo was happy with the balcony view!

Russ and I grabbed some beers (there goes that not drinking today decision!) and headed down to the pool. Now I don’t have a fear of clowns myself, but this pool is still creepy! Why Disney, why? We spent a nice couple of hours just swimming and sunbathing and trying out the flume of clown doom. Which was actually quite fun!

By about 6 we left to go and get washed and dressed and make our way to Disney Springs. On a Minnie Bus! I quite like these buses- they’re new and clean inside and I liked being able to charge my phone!

Pretty palm trees never gets old for me!

So as we were entering the Springs and passed Coach… their window was full of Dinosaur designs! What?? I went inside and took a photo of all the designer keying’s, purses and more with dinosaurs on them to send to Alisa! We ARE dinosaurs! I took more photos, but I’ll just post one here. There was literally so many items like this!

It’s so random, ever since Alisa left Disney and I went home we keep seeing random dinosaur items or themes- and it’s not just like seeing kids toys, it’s really random dinosaurs on things from TV adverts to clothing and food items- Alisa actually sat down at a bar the other day where a newspaper was open next to her- and a giant T-Rex was printed within an article on that page. Then another day a U-Haul van with a giant dinosaur on the side pulled up next to her in traffic! She sent photos of both. Twin signs everywhere.

Anyhow, once I had come out of Coach, Russ and I took a wander around the Springs.

We toured a lot of the shops and then decided we fancied something sweet (dessert before dinner!) so we headed to Amorettes Patisserie for a Mickey dome cake. I’ve wanted to try one of these for ages! It was nice- not too sweet and a lot of mousse. I’m glad I tried it, but I would probably go for something else next time. Sure was a pretty cake though!

 

[Ariel1986]

From here we continued through World of Disney and on to the Co-op and around the various shops within the marketplace. I spotted a mystery box of “adventure” pins at the pin store, and it had a Rapunzel pin in a hot air balloon with the sunflower on it. I love Tangled and the lanterns (we had Tangled and Beauty and the Beast elements in our wedding!) and we loved travel and adventures so I decided I needed it! But there were 6 designs and each box contained 2, and of course you can’t see what you’re getting when you buy. I decided to chance it and Russ had a good feeling about one of the boxes so we went with it. I decided to open it later when we sat down somewhere.

I also picked up this magnet which I LOVE! At home I keep putting it above my head and pretending to go under it- and believing for a split second I’m home.

Once we had spent about an hour touring the shops we decided to head to Homecoming. IT WAS CLOSED! What?! They were hosting a private event for the evening! Noooo! We both had really fancied eating there and now didn’t know what to do! We couldn’t decide on anywhere else.

Jock’s it is then! Thinking juice to help us decide. And R2. Hey he had reappeared!

New since last night were printed food menus of their seasonal items.

After our second round of drinks we decided ah well lets go for the flatbreads here. They were smaller than I had imagined! But still tasty and filled us up quite well surprisingly.

I also opened my mystery pin box here. First one opened… it was Simba and Lion King themed. Doh! Last one… I opened and placed down before looking. Turned it over and… it was Rapunzel!! Woo hoo! This made me stupid happy I don’t know why, but it just did. Russ had guessed the right box!

After we had finished at Jocks we took another wander around the shops.

I spent some time in Sugar Boo and when I saw this saying I text it to Alisa as it seemed apt! Alisa posted the quote later on with our balloon photo.

We weren’t that hungry at this point now- and it was about 9.30pm so decided to just head back to the Boardwalk and maybe pick up a snack or two there and head back to the room. We caught the bus to Beach Club and Yacht Club as it turned up first, and took a wander around to the Boardwalk from there. I love this area at night.

I have no idea why we didn’t think about the Boardwalk Bakery or Ample Hills this evening now! I can’t believe I didn’t get to Ample Hills; I had really wanted to try the Oatmeal Lace! And the Bakery would have been perfect for a small sandwich snack! Instead this completely slipped our minds and we bought some meat slices and cheese from the Boardwalk store to have with some bread wraps we still had in the room from offsite. Oh well! We purchased said cheese and meat andheaded to the room to relax for the rest of the evening.

How am I wrapping up day 12 already?! Just like on the trip the middle 7-8 days went by in a flash! Even though we had 4 whole days remaining it didn’t feel long enough and it felt like it was all ending too soon. We still had plenty of fun ahead of us though, so I tried not to think about it too much.

Coming up- the penultimate resort move of the trip and our first look at Destino Tower at Coronado Springs!

 

[Ariel1986]

i have been following along and really enjoy your TR..

i live in tampa so found that amusing that you would like to visit here..
FYI Tampa is really cool

Thanks for reading! Glad you're enjoying! Yep Alisa and Jerome live in Tampa and we've been there a few times. It is really cool!

 

[Ariel1986]

So I totally failed in finishing the trip report before @dclfan arrived in England, but I will try to do so soon and then complete the London/Paris adventure trip report after! Meanwhile...

 

[Ariel1986]

So shall I try and get this original report finally finished??

Friday 4th October

We had no park plans for this morning, we were intending to get to the Outlet Stores offsite and some supermarkets to do some American food/treats shopping to take back home with us. So we had a relaxed morning once again, with the check-out time of I facetimed my sister again to catch up and once I had spent about 30 mins or so on the phone with her, we got washed and dressed and got our bags ready to transfer. As our room was right near the lobby we didn’t bother to call bell services and just took our bags ourselves.

Reymundo was ready to move resorts too!

Luggage ready to transfer we called for a Lyft to take us to the outlets.

Unfortunately the Disney Character Warehouse was disappointing today! Half the shelves were empty and it was PACKED. I think all the social media advertising and YouTubers going has made this too popular for what it is now. We a little wonder around the rest of the outlets, but weren’t really interested in much more so started to make our way to the Crossroads area near Disney Springs for lunch and the supermarket there.

For some reason we thought it wouldn’t be too difficult to walk- and actually it only took 30 minutes, but it was SO HOT outside. By the time we got there we were a hot mess. Luckily the AC in Gooding’s Supermarket cooled us down and Russ actually had a spare t-shirt so got changed, and we looked around before deciding we were hungry enough for lunch now. We both fancied Mexican so we went to Chevy’s! We thought we’d come back to Gooding’s after lunch to buy everything (nope, didn’t happen, we couldn’t be bothered to go back in and thought we’d still have time another day!).

Yes that is a mini Grand Mariner in my margarita

It was actually a really tasty meal, but we soon realised on the way back that combined with the heat and our decision to walk back to Disney Springs from the Crossroads was probably not the best idea. We were so full! But we made it back to Disney Springs (it’s not actually that long a walk, and it’s a nostalgic route for us from our first offsite stays) for a quick wonder through the shops.

We love this sign from the Crossroads entrance

By the time we got to the bus depot it was past check in time for Coronado Springs, so we hopped on a bus and straight to reception.

Wow is the lobby pretty! But it was very busy today. We had to wait 5 or 10 minutes in line and then a little longer for them to make sure our magicbands were synced right as we now had quite a few on our MDE accounts. Magicbands sorted we went to try out the new-fangled elevators they have here where you select your floor first before getting in and then our shown on screen which elevator to get into. I’m not sure if these are any more efficient since a lot of guests seem a bit clueless, but we got used to them pretty much straight away. Still wanted/would go to press the non-existent buttons when in the elevator though!

 

[Ariel1986]

The hotel has the new carpet smell- and the hallways are pretty! Hidden mickeys around too!

Wow- very impressed with the design and size of these rooms! We had a standard view so were only on floor 4 facing the car park, but the room was lovely! Modern, spacious and the bathroom/shower were great! I liked the personalised TV welcome also- the TV guide set up was better too.

Reymundo had made the journey to the new resort! (I promise this is one of the last balloon photos! )

After we called for our bags (they arrived in about 20 mins) and had a quick shower to freshen up, we made our way to the bus stop to head out for our late afternoon plans- Animal Kingdom!

First up we had an anytime FP for FoP! We had originally booked for 7.20pm, however Pandora was closing for a private event that evening, so our FP turned into an anytime one- which actually worked out better!

This turned out to be the best FoP we’ve been on, the picture was clear and it seemed like everything was a little heightened/the ride almost longer, I’m not sure why. Anyway we enjoyed it so much! A good last FoP for the trip. They had a banshee outside of the rookery in another part of the shop for once, so I enjoyed having a little go with it. I’d buy one if I could get one of them for the apparent price of $10 in the outlets lol (before the hordes of people raid it first thing!)

 

[Ariel1986]

After we had finished in Pandora we decided a visit to Nomad Lounge was needed since we hadn’t yet been there this trip. Love the Nomad Lounge! It has such a nice feel to it and the drinks and snacks (though we didn’t eat this time) are great!

I can’t remember my drinks name but it had watermelon and was delicious! I’m not sure what Russ had- it looks like it might be an old fashioned.

Such a lovely selfie...

From here we decided to have a go on Kali River Rapids because there was no queue- and *gasp*- we’ve never ridden it! We enjoyed it for what it was and because it was “new” to us. I liked the decoration and the queue area. Plus we didn’t get wet really so that was a bonus!

We continued on round from here to Everest, for one last night-time ride of the trip. Awesome as always! I’ve left it too late to get our Everest photo off of MDE though. Doh!

The park was nearing closing time now- and we wanted to head back and enjoy Coronado and the new restaurants as we were only there one night. So we took a stroll back to the front of the park and said goodbye to Animal Kingdom for this trip.

 

[Ariel1986]

Back at Coronado we got off at one of the Casitas bus stops so that we could stroll round the original resort which was one of our old favourites. We had a look in Panchitos and said hello to the beloved fountain!

We then walked along the new connection corridor to the Destino Tower and decided to head up to the Dahlia Lounge to check out the view!

It was a bit crowded as it was nearing 9pm now and so people were trying to see the various fireworks, but it was a pretty view! We had a quick glance at the menu, but nothing at that point was standing out to us (I think we were still full from Chevy’s so we decided to head over the lake to Three Bridges Bar and Grill.

More Lobby prettiness! And Walt!

We took the walk around the resort and over the bridges to the new bar and grill on the water. As always, Coronado Springs is so pretty at night! I love the lights and the water- and the tower enhances this I believe.

We took a quick look at the pool. Pretty too at night!

 

[Ariel1986]

On our way to Three Bridges!

Three Bridges was fairly quiet when we arrived- we really loved the look and feel of the whole place though! Very calming and serene. We decided to sit at the bar and ordered a martini and an old fashioned.

We still weren’t super hungry, but fancied a snack- so we ordered the cheese dip. It was just the right amount of food- and delicious!

We sat for a while and enjoyed the ambience and talked about our various past visits here. We also talked about how if money was no object, we’d buy hundreds more DVC points to stay at various deluxes as well as stay for a month in Coronado Springs! We still love this resort. And as nice as the new tower is- along with the extra bars and restaurants there is now- we actually would still stay in the original resort, there’s just a slight extra Disney touch there. There’s also the element of being able to step right outside- without a balcony or patio or direct outside access, the tower felt a little distant from the rest of the resort. We did still really enjoy the stay and were impressed with the rooms though.

 

[Ariel1986]

After we had finished our drinks and the cheese dip we decided to head out- Russ wanted a picture here to try and look like Hades from Hercules with blue fire hair. I failed to make it look like that lol.

We headed back on one of the opposite bridges to look around Panchitos again and grab something sweet from Café Rix along with filling our refillable mugs we still had with coffee/hot chocolate.

We bought two donuts which unfortunately were a bit stale- oh well! We still ate them- the icing was still tasty at least.

In our tipsy minds we thought this was funny channelling Forky from Toy Story 4...

We wrapped up our evening watching TV with a couple of drinks before going to sleep.

Coming up next- the last move of the trip! Beach Club here we come (finally!)

 

[Ariel1986]

Saturday 5th October

We had thought at first this morning that we would have a pool morning at Coronado, whilst doing some laundry and then head over to Beach Club- but we both realised we’d much rather get up and over to Beach Club and hang at Stormalong Bay whilst doing some laundry instead!

We got ourselves ready and I made a quick dash over to Panchitos as there was an item there my sister wanted as a souvenir.

Morning Coronado views!

Russ was packed and ready by the time I got back and rather than wait for Bell Services, as it was a short walk to the elevator and then straight down to the lobby we took our bags ourselves to then order a Lyft over to Beach Club for our final resort check-in of the trip, at around 10.30am.

To our surprise on arrival our room was ready! Perfect. We made our way over to the villas.

We had a smaller balcony than we’ve had before, but the garden view was nice. If you squinted you could see parts of Epcot through the trees.

 

[Ariel1986]

The room actually felt more or less the same as the Boardwalk, so we unpacked in the same way with everything in the same place as at Boardwalk.

Once we had sorted the room, we grabbed the washing and headed on over to the pool laundry. The wash was going to take less than 30 minutes so we decided to head to the bar at Hurricane Hannah’s’ for a drink first, before Russ returned to place everything in the dryer and we then headed in to Stormalong Bay.

We grabbed sunloungers on the roof of one of the little buildings where the pool tables are. It was empty and had a great view!

Slide time! This really is the best pool- and the view from the slide is just awesome!

We had a really lovely hour just swimming and sunbathing and enjoying Stormalong.

Once the dryer time was up and we were ready to leave, we collected our laundry and headed back to the room. Via our favourite swing! I just love sitting here and pondering the world, both Disney and outside!

It was about 1.30pm now so we got ourselves freshened up and decided to head out to Epcot for some more Food and Wine! We had the Dining Plan for these last two nights at Beach Club, so we had snack points to burn!

 

[Ariel1986]

We headed in and made our way anti-clockwise as we wanted to check out Flavours of Fire again as we were both fancying something from there this time. We got talking to a couple in line who recommended the chimchurri steak so went with that and the beef slider! We were going to get the corn beef hash but changed our minds last minute. Both of these were good! We meant to come back to get the corn beef at some point, but of course we didn’t!

From here we headed to Soarin as the wait time said 25 minutes and I really wanted one more trip around the world before we went home! Thanks Patrick. Yay flying again!

Flight complete, we headed into the new Epcot preview building. I liked this on one of the building walls

The circular presentation room is pretty impressive and interesting to watch- thought it actually made me feel a little nauseas as it’s in circular vision! There’s also some cool photo ops here- there’s one with pink clouds and balloons and the Epcot logo, but I’ll spare the photos we had taken though as it was a very hot day today and we don’t look too pleasant on reflection!

As we were leaving I noticed there were some Food and Wine offerings in the building, so we went with a cider flight and some Buffalo Blue Cheese popcorn which I had wanted to try for ages! Unfortunately the popcorn was stale, but the flavour was good. Although it stained my fingers orange instantly! The cider flight was tasty though.

We continued on walking around the world and decided to grab the chacuterie cone from Spain. This was also tasty! Though not much meat.

 

[Ariel1986]

We’d both been fancying Udon Noodles for a while so we decided to stop in Japan and get some from Katsura Grill, since we also love walking around the Japan pavilion and sitting in the seating area of the Katsura Grill. It’s so pretty! We said hello to the Koi fish first.

We used a QS point which meant it came with an alcoholic drink, so I went with the Green Tea Colada. This was DELICIOUS! When we were in Asia a couple of years ago I was obsessed with the green tea ice cream and this tasted just like that. Noodles were delicious too.

We had a nice 20 minutes or so just sitting here, enjoying the noodles and people watching. It was incredibly hot this day though- and the heat was beginning to get to me by the time we finished.

We decided to head back to Beach Club from here to cool off for a little in our room- as our planwas to head to MK for some FPs and HEA.

Love all the little details of the Beach Club!

After about an hour chilling in the AC in our room, we then headed out to the bus stop to head over to MK for the evening. It didn’t take long for a bus to arrive and then we were back walking towards the castle!

 

[Ariel1986]

First up I wanted to get one of those zoom-in/out photos from the hub. I think these are so cool! I want to put ours onto a canvas like a “where’s wally” for us in the MK! Whilst we were queuing the sun was setting and I was trying to get a nice selfie as the sun was setting so the light was lovely! Didn’t quite work though lol!

Where’s Russ and Sam?

From here we headed on over to our first FP- Splash Mountain! Not before stopping to try the new-ish pizza spring rolls in Adventureland though! I had been craving these for ages. They were pretty tasty, but a little disappointing as they weren’t quite as delicious or pizza tasting as I was hoping. It was just cheese and pepperoni in the roll and the marinara dipping sauce wasn’t the best.

From here we continued on to Frontierland for our Splash FP.

 

[Ariel1986]

The sky was pretty tonight!

Next up, Philharmagic- this is a must! Still one of my favourite attractions, I just love it. I’ll be sad when the update happens if some scenes are replaced, but also excited that it will become even more immersive! We had a FP for 7DMT next- always fun in the dark! We had fun in the last cart and swinging it side to side, which the people in front of us were happy to do as well! Again I’ve left it too late to save some MDE photos So this is my best photo that we we on the ride!

After mining for jewels we went to check the queue for Under the Sea, but it was winding outside which we took to mean it was much longer than the posted wait time! So we headed on round to the hub for HEA.

It was only 8.15pm, but I had wanted to try and get a good spot, similar but even closer than where Alisa and I had managed to squeeze in the other week- and more central. So we made our way into the centre of the hub and about 4 rows of people back from the castle. Time passed fairly quickly- and the crowds sure did fill in behind us!

 

[Ariel1986]

As the opening bars started and then the first fireworks went off… I realised I had made a mistake! THIS close… the fireworks are blocked from view by the castle! DOH! Well, you can see parts of them, but not much. Silly mistake, of course the castle would block the view! We couldn’t even move back now because of the crowds. Oh well- we had a great view of the projections! So it was still enjoyable, it was just a shame as this was the last HEA showing left on our trip as it was MNSSHP the next night (our last night). At least I know now for future fireworks, I can’t believe it didn’t click beforehand! Never mind.

As the fireworks were going on Alisa had text me to see if we were on the buckets that night- and then let me know about the reports people were stuck! Oh dear…

After HEA we headed back around for our last FP window- for the Wildest Ride in the Wilderness! We were going to ask for the back row- but there was already a build-up of about 6 couples wanting the same- so we decided to just go to the row next available which was a couple behind the front car. And we actually found it to be just as fun! It is definitely true that on some rollercoasters the back row is always best- but the ride was just as fun- and fast- in this seat to our surprise!

The park was near closing now, so we started to make the walk out. We were planning to come back in , so I didn’t feel too sad yet. I also didn’t take any leaving the park photos because of this. As was this trip though- that didn’t happen! More on that in the next post though.

So without realising, that was our last visit to MK for this trip

In the bus queue news was buzzing about the Skyliner and you could hear people talking and speculating and checking their phones. At this point no-one really knew what had happened but the photos of the “crashed” gondolas were out so it all seemed very dramatic. We decided to get in the queue for the Boardwalk as we wanted to pop to the nearby Speedway for beers. Of course as this returned the road for all other traffic was cut off and there were dozens of police cars & fire engines about!

As we walked through the Boardwalk car park to get to the Speedway, the buckets were just hanging there in the dark, silent apart from the repeating announcement spiel about the temporary delay playing in each one. It was kind of eerie! And wow that must have been annoying hearing that spiel over and over. There was also a few “reporters” (social media) taking photos and videos already!

We were hungry on the way back, so we stopped at the Beach Club marketplace and ordered one of their flatbread pizzas from the late night menu.

Earlier today we had decided that the plan tomorrow would be an epic 4 parks in one day attempt! AK at rope drop to attempt FoP, then over to MK to briefly walk up Main Street and try for Astro Orbitor, then we had a brunch ADR for California Grill and we would then relax back at the resort and make sure we were ready for check out the following day. We would then go for a few snacks in Epcot before finishing with our Slinky Dog FP at DHS and Galaxies Edge at night.

Originally for today (the HEA evening) we had booked a California Grill dinner as well as the brunch for the next morning- but we had realised earlier in the week that this was too much food. Also since we were no longer on the deluxe dining plan as we thought we would be purchasing for the last 2 nights, but the regular dining plan, it made no sense to do both.

After our late night flat bread and a few more drinks, we went to sleep around 1am. Let’s see how our plans for our last day went…

 

[Ariel1986]

Ok let’s get this trip report finished!! Only 2 months after we got home...!

Sunday October 6th

We actually both woke up at 5am. I had set our alarms for 6am to get us to AK for a 7am rope drop. At 5.30am I said do we want to? We both couldn’t really decide- but then I thought maybe it would be silly to tire ourselves out on our last day when the next day would be an exhausting travel day with little sleep on the overnight flight- and that perhaps we should just sleep in and go to brunch- visiting MK afterwards. We both went back to sleep- but not very well- and then actually felt worse when we woke up around 9.30am! Brunch was at 11.20am and around 10am we were both not sure if we wanted to go- we weren’t hungry! It would be a waste to go to CG brunch and not eat much.

The two weeks of fun had finally caught up- we were exhausted! Today became our day of indecision. If we cancelled we would have 2 sit down meals left- where could we go? We had a quick look for other places for breakfast. But we weren’t hungry! Could we fit in lunch then dinner somewhere? But where? Another signature for dinner? As I was modifying the brunch to another date to then be able to cancel, I saw that a 9.50pm California Grill dinner was available. Was that too late? Perhaps we could check in earlier and see if they could seat us earlier? So we decided to book that.

As we were getting washed and dressed we were trying to decide what to do now. We had a few snacks left still- Epcot maybe? After going back and forth for ages on what to do for our last day now that our original plans had failed spectacularly- and with what seemed to take us forever to get ready- we were finally off to Epcot around midday.

The Skyliner was static with cast members stationed at the entrance of course.

You know how some days at Disney don’t quite go to plan, and nothing seems to be going quite right? Nothing terrible, but today was one of those days where everything just felt a bit off. I think the reality of going home tomorrow was hitting- and I also had a slight toothache that was starting to hurt more than usual. So I was a bit distracted and sad! I was also annoyed at myself that we hadn’t just got up and gone to Animal Kingdom since we felt tired anyway. But I tried to shake it off and we headed to the bakery in France as I fancied something ham and cheese and croissant-y.

I almost chose a ham and cheese croissant- but then one with brie caught my eye. This turned out to be a mistake as it was a little bit more expensive- so not valid as a snack point- but I had already had it toasted, so I paid for it. And then the it turned out it was mostly a giant slab of egg in the croissant- one tiny piece of bacon and the cheese ended up making it super greasy, so the whole thing tasted of egg and wasn’t the flavours that I was craving. Mistake number one- as it was also filling! Ignoring this though, we headed on to Brazil as we wanted to try the pork belly.

This was the taste I was craving- salty pork and then the beans were sweet- I should have just gone with this to start! Oh well. It was really tasty. We sat for a while and then decided to continue round.

I fancied something sweet now, so decided to have the waffle in Belgium. This was disappointing- the cream was flavourless and there wasn’t much chocolate sauce. And the waffle was luke warm so it was all a bit meh. And now I really was full! I hate wasting hunger on unsatisfying food!

 

[Ariel1986]

We continued on round World Showcase, slowly strolling and looking at the pavilions.

R2 was back briefly to sit outside America with us.

We had a look at the Epcot preview again. This actually just made me feel more nauseas than it had yesterday after a while though so we headed out. I wasn’t really hungry, but I fancied some cheese, so I decided to get the cheese plate from the Food and Wine experience stand (I think). It was small- and average flavour. How today was going really!

We slowly made our way back round to International Gateway, both a little grumpy- and decided to have some more pool time this afternoon, before spending the evening in DHS before our late night California Grill ADR. We stopped at Canada though as Russ wanted to try the filet. I only had a bite, but this was GOOD! I don’t know if we had a just freshly made one- but it was medium rare and perfect. Very tasty.

As we left Mickey was waving us goodbye.

I was trying not to be a Debbie Downer, but it made me sad that we were leaving Epcot (even though I wasn’t in the mood to stay) as the time now had seemed to of whizzed by this last week and I still didn’t feel we’d done what we’d planned to. There were still a few more booths/items to try, Test Track, Frozen, Grand Fiesta Tour, Living with the Land, The Seas, looking around more shops and pavilions... did we even Epcoo?! Not only that- we wouldn’t be getting to MK today as it was closing at 6pm for MNSSHP (going there and back now and then going back this evening seemed too much, plus we needed to pack our suitcases for tomorrow). But… Astro Orbitor! Russ and I hadn’t ridden it together this trip and I had wanted to see the castle in the daylight one more time. And we hadn’t ridden Pirates or Haunted Mansion at all!!
I hadn’t even had a dole whip this trip- or corn dog nuggets or ICE CREAM. Russ had eaten soft serve at Contempo Café and had an ice cream at DHS, but I hadn’t been to the Plaza or Ample Hills or had an actual ice cream anywhere myself! What was going on, how was it time to go home tomorrow already and we had all these things left to do?!

 

[Ariel1986]

I tried to not let all these thoughts cloud my mood though and just enjoy the resort for the next hour or so. We actually played a quick game of pool in the DVC lounge which was fun as Russ had wanted to- and then we headed to the pool with some drinks. Even though it was cloudy today it was still warm. The hour swimming helped me relax a little and feel a bit better.

We then headed back to the room to sort our suitcases. Around 4.30pm we headed to DHS.
It was very windy today and now the clouds had covered the sky it all felt a little ominous. My anxiety about us going home and being sad had crept back in and together with the sky being dark I started to feel in a funny mood again. I tried to cheer up seeing Chip and Dale (we’d just missed the meet and greet though and they were taking photos with the last guests allowed).

We then stopped for a coffee at Starbucks however and watched some of the Star Wars show as it was on when we arrived.

From here we went into Launch Bay as we hadn’t looked around yet. The shop seemed a little sparse from previous visits (probably because of Galaxies Edge of course!) and so we headed on out to the Incredibles’ area as we had kept wanting to get one of the Jack Jack cookies. This was tasty- but messy!

After filling up on cookie we headed into Toy Story Land. Slinky had too long a wait and Russ didn’t fancy waiting for TSMM at 40 minutes, but eventually agreed to. I wanted to try and queue and take up the time until our ADR tonight by doing rides, but Russ wasn’t feeling the queuing. We were both in funny moods now! I was trying to adjust our FP for Slinky as it was still 2 hours away, and to see if anything else would come up- and by some miracle whilst in line a FP for Slinky for 5 mins time appeared! I grabbed it and we left the queue for TSMM (which was barely moving) and headed onto Slinky. As soon as we tapped in I tried to book something else, but as it was Tier 1 and the only FP I had booked that day, it wouldn’t let me book anything else worthwhile yet.

Russ was asking why we had got here so early- and I was wondering too now, we still had 3 ½ hours until we needed to leave for the Contemporary and Russ wasn’t in the mood to queue for rides in standby. Having a mini argument I wasn’t in a great mood when we got on Slinky and wasn’t able to enjoy it as much as usual. Noooo! I didn’t get the photo from MDE in time anyway, probably best so the memory of a sad Slinky ride can fade!

When we came off we both tried to shake off the mood and decided to head to baseline to relax for a bit and decide what to do next. We split a beer flight between us and tried to cheer up a bit.

I was just in the weirdest mood though- it was really dark with the clouds and the wind made it feel like a storm was coming. I had this weird anxiety- which now I think was some kind of instinct about my toothache! Weird as it sounds, the next day the toothache got REALLY bad and I barely managed to keep the pain numbed with various medicines and alcohol on the flight home- I almost considered not getting on the plane as I was in a lot of pain. The day we landed I was in such pain and the following day I was due to go back to work, but I had to call in sick and attend an emergency dental appointment for root canal work! My tooth was very infected eek!

Maybe my subconscious knew something was going to go really wrong with my tooth the next day? Anxiety combined with the sadness of going home, but feeling grumpy too and not in the mood for anything, Russ suggested we head back to the resort to relax for a few hours instead and then make our way out to California Grill when it was time. Even though Russ was grumpy too he was worried that I was feeling sad and anxious, so wanted to make sure I felt ok.

So that’s what we did. We left DHS without another trip into Galaxies Edge, without having ridden Tower of Terror once this trip or seeing Fantasmic- or stopping for drinks at Brown Derby Lounge! There was a thread the other day on here about how long until you get bored at Disney. We were here 16 nights and I still feel like we need to go back for a month just to get half the stuff we wanted to do done, along with the stuff we did do and that I already miss!