Trip Report Magical MAYhem

Hey All!

After the enjoyment we had doing our trip report on our last visit to WDW (2 Brits, 2 Weeks, 2 Tonnes of fun) we thought we would have a go at doing it again!

So for now, here is our pre-trip report!

For those of you who didn't follow our last trip report we'll give you an introduction to ourselves again! :)

My name is Adam and my Fiance is Natasha (Tasha for short) We both like to take turns writing the report so i'll be referred to as A and Tasha will be refereed to as N. If you would like to know a little more about us, feel free to check out our trip report.

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I'm the one of the left...

When, Where, How, and Why???

When: We are flying out MCO on the first week of May (Hence the title) and will be spending 15 nights there.

Where: We are staying off disney this time, as we already have a family trip planned in September where we will be on Disney. So during this trip we will be staying at the Rosen Inn at Point Orlando. Like last time we will give our final thoughts on the hotel after we've completed the report.

How: By plane... We find its the quickest way over the pond...

Why: Ok... so bare with me... This may be a long story... We originally planned to get married at Home with all the family and friends we could think of. However lady luck had different ideas for us and our wedding venue/Supplier went into liquidation taking our wedding (and rather large deposit with it) So instead of going back to square one, we decided to capitalize on the opportunity and as we were already having a family holiday in September plan a wedding for then whilst everyone is in Florida and we can take advantage of the beautiful sites on offer.

But wait it minute you may think... Whats this got to do with May?

Well... under the ruse of "Checking out the venue" and "Making sure everything is going to plan" it would have been rude not to pop into Disney whilst we are over there don't you think? :p

Plans so far:
Last time we went, we actually had a fairly strong gameplan. However on this trip we really have no preference as to what we are going to do. Last time we did head over to Crystal river to swim with the Manatees and that's something we would consider doing again although from what i understand May is not the right season for seeing the Manatees? (Any info on this would be greatly appreciated)

Your advice:
We would love recommendations on places to eat. We love to try new things and would love to hear your recommendations on places to eat either in Disney or out and about.

I am a diehard NFL fan (But a Saints fan first), and whilst we are over there would love to top up my jersey collection (i am currently trying to obtain jerseys for all 32 teams) so i would like to know best places to buy jerseys for a decent price. Last year I was finding it difficult to find jerseys less that 150 USD? Not sure with us going in the off-season that prices will be any cheaper? But any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.


We will keep you guys updated with any new developments we have. I imagine the trip report will start trickling in once we get back from our holidays as usually we just don't have the time do it when we are over there!
 

Tashifer90

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Wednesday 15th May - Day 12 - Continued

When we got to epcot we had managed to grab a last minute fastpass for Soarin' which nice because we hadn't done that in while but unfortunately did not have enough time for mission space as well which was a shame.

We heard if you ask nicely you get a good seat for watching the fireworks at hacienda, unfortunately we got sat in the middle so our view was ok but not the best as there was some obstruction to the center of illuminations.

The food and service though? Oh my days. 10 out of 10, we had a new waitress (I think she had only been working there a few days) N tells me she was 'earning her ears' so she was super attentive and friendly and was really nice at suggesting things we might like from the menu. We got free chips and dip to start off with as well.

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Yummy!

For our starters we had the queso with chips, which was amazing the cheese was lovely and stretchy!

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'Drooling'

N got the costillas en salsa de chile which was Braised Short Rib with Potato Puree and Cilantro Chimichurri it came with side of rice and refried beans, they even came and gave N tortillas incase she wanted to make little fajitas which was nice!
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I opted for the tacos de camarones which was Fried Shrimp, Chipotle-Lime Aïoli, Cabbage, and Salsa Verde on Flour Tortillas

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Both these meals were absolutely delicious and we thoroughly enjoyed them both!

The cocktails were also very nice! I can't remember what i had though!
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as you can tell from this slightly tipsy face...

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N very happy and full!!

I then had to try a dessert as well...

The Flan de Maiz
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Traditional caramel and sweet cream custard with pastry cream

again... i regretted it... i had over indulged...
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Our view from the fireworks. Like i said not amazing, but it was still a pretty good show.

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I think they could do with making the whole front of the restaurant glass windows iin order for everyone to get a good view of the fireworks.

We then strolled back to the car and headed back to the hotel after another enjoyable day!
 

ladydi

Active Member
If you need to dry out your shoes in the future, pack them tightly with newspaper. They will dry overnight! Heard this tip once from someone when we were flying down and have used it multiple times successfully.
 

Rista1313

Well-Known Member
Skechers are the ONLY way for sure... just bought a new pair and hubby got 2 new pair... that's one good thing about staying at a value resort.... washers and DRYERS to dry your shoes!
 

Rista1313

Well-Known Member
If you need to dry out your shoes in the future, pack them tightly with newspaper. They will dry overnight! Heard this tip once from someone when we were flying down and have used it multiple times successfully.

Also another tip is to wear one pair on the plane and pack a 2nd pair so you can rotate them... dry/wet/dry... =D
 

Tashifer90

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
If you need to dry out your shoes in the future, pack them tightly with newspaper. They will dry overnight! Heard this tip once from someone when we were flying down and have used it multiple times successfully.

That's such a good idea! we will remember this for our next trip! Thank you for the info! 😀
 

Tashifer90

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Skechers are the ONLY way for sure... just bought a new pair and hubby got 2 new pair... that's one good thing about staying at a value resort.... washers and DRYERS to dry your shoes!

We were going to do the same but was worried about ruining our sketchers in the dryer, but its good to know it works! We will try this as well! 😀
 

Tashifer90

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thursday 16th May - Day 13

Now that it was getting towards the end of our holiday, today we decided we were going to be shopping pretty much all day to use up any dollars whilst the malls were a little quieter during the week. We started off with the Florida Mall and got an early lunch in the food-courts. N got tacos from taco bell and i got a philly cheese-steak (Because we don't get stuff like that across the pond, the nearest thing is probably subway)

It was glorious.
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One with everything!

and some cheesy fries
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On our way back to the shops, N really wanted me to show you this photo of an especially cute shop assistant...
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Can you see him? He said we'd be barking mad not to get a watch at these prices. 😂

We also went to the Premium Vineland outlets and N had been hunting for spirit jerseys all holiday and she got some incredible bargains from the Disney store there and I even managed to get one of the Pandora A.C.E raincoats about 35 dollars cheaper than it was at the parks. So we were very chuffed with that!

As we were walking around the Disney store we heard those infamous words uttered by every child that walks in there...
'I SWEAR I''LL NEVER ASK FOR ANYTHING EVER AGAIN, PLEASE JUST BUY ME THIS!'

We've all been there at some point haven't we? We both couldn't help but crack a smile as we both had tried to make similar deals in the past with our own parents hehe!

After we were shopped out, we headed for Disney springs to get our munch on. We were eyeing up planet hollywood, but fancied a drink first so we decided to try the coke bar. I was thinking of just grabbing just a refillable but i ended up being tempted by their taste trays!

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I think my favorite was the smart watermelon, N wasn't a fan of the different flavours so she just got a regular coke.

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Kinda looks like a bunch of wee samples, but I can assure you they were all very nice!

N was looking very photogenic with the sunset in the background.
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She can't keep a straight face for long though.
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After this we headed to planet hollywood, we thought it would be nice and easy to get seated, however their queuing system was a little weird as well, you took a ticket, then got into another line, got the front of that line then would have someone write on your on ticket and then you would leave the queue and they would call you 5 or 10 minutes after that? I didn't know what was going on to be totally honest.

We got sat right below the huge TV screen which was good, we shared the Wings to start with but then there was a mishap in the kitchen and our mains arrived at the same time as our starters which was kind of awkward but not unbearable.

Entertaining guests both side of us though, we had quite a rude couple next to us who did not say please or thank you to the waitress once, i know they're just doing their job but i feel that manners really don't cost anything and it's doesn't hurt just to thank the waiters and waitresses for their service.

The couple to the other side of us had a terrible mishap though, the guy had the deep fried lasagne. He cut a piece for his partner to have was passing it across the table to her and... 'PLOP!' straight into his glass of coke! We all shared a laugh but we also felt very sorry for the guy hehe!

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i got myself one of the guy fieri burgers the original ringer. Crispy rojo onion ring, Guy's signature BBQ sauce, SMC, cheddar, LTOP, and donkey sauce on a brioche bun served with triple fries!!

Again though... i failed to get a photo of N's meal...

My penance was to try on these things in preparation for our wedding day...
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I feel these things will never look good on my head... I think they need to do a male headband version so i can put it over my cap!

after a browse around the world of disney we headed bac to the hotel to rest our bodies and wallets!
 

Tashifer90

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Friday 17th May - Day 14

Today was our last full day... :cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry:

So we were going for it!!

We woke up and headed straight for Blizzard Beach, forgoing breakfast as we were still full from the night before.

We arrive at 09:50 and walked into find a spot, however we already regretted skipping breakfast as we went past the first kiosk, N ended up getting a pretzel and cheese and i got a Bannana nut muffin. Yum!

We scoffed those down pretty quickly and decided to float in the wave pool for a little while and take a few shots with our new camera.
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Apologies for the over exposure on my photo... i do not tan. 👻

After that we went around the lazy river which N was very happy about of course.
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I managed to get a cool little time lapse on the gopro as we were going around though. You can see it below!



After this we did the downhill double dipper. I love this slide, there's always that moment of terror where you come slightly off the slide and free fall for a while, it's like those dream you have when you falling and wake up the moment you land!... But this was more fun though... 😂

we also did the run off rapids which is always fun!
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Although not long after this we had to get ready to leave to do our fastpass at MK, so with 30 mins to spare i raced to the top of summit plummet to do that before we left. Got speaking to a nice bloke and his son from Pittsburgh as well on the lift up there! :)

I do love the view from the top of here!
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I was waiting in line to head down and there was a kid before me getting ready to go down. But he made the fateful mistake of looking down the slide first... He promptly decided that he wanted to watch someone go down it first and then he would go down.

So i became his guinea pig for the ride.
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Down i went!

I do still love this ride, it seems super scary because its so high in the sky but it barely lasts 5 seconds as you fly down there so fast!

N planned to be waiting at the bottom with drinks and towels but she was a few minutes too late so didn't get to see me flying down the slide.

We then headed to the changing rooms and got changed ready to shoot off to MK!

We got to MK around 14:00

We decided to get the boat across, we both feel this is the more magical route as you see the castle appear in the distance!
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We were feeling pretty hungry at this point so headed over to cosmic rays starlight cafe, i grabbed myself the nuggets (Obviously) and N went for the Mickey Cheeseburger.

After our tums were full we were ready for our fast pass at Buzz. I got a new highscore on it as well! I think it was interplanetary ace?

Either way, scores below:
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I have no idea what i hit to get such a high score, but i feel like this will NEVER happen again! 😂

We went to go see Philar magic as it was only a 15 minutes wait, we overheard from some CM's talking that the speedway was going to be reopened tomorrow. I'm looking forward to using my nieces and nephews as an excuse to get on that when we come back next time!

After that it was our haunted mansion FP which was a 50 minute wait so we were very happy we got that!

Then we walked past the churro kiosk... and i could not walk past this without picking one up on our last day! N also treated herself to an ice cream 😀

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Super happy!
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after our sugar fix we headed over to BTM as we saw that it was a 30 min wait on the app, however by the time we got there it had gone up to 50 mins, so we decided against it and headed over to POTC which said it was 30 mins but actually ended up being a 20 min wait! We even got a row all to ourselves!

To be continued...
 

Tashifer90

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Friday 17th May- Day 14 Continued

We decided that our ride photo for PotC would be a happy one.
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Inside we were secretly crying at our last day in the parks!

We looked at the MDE app and noticed that jungle cruise had a short wait so swung round there. We had Skipper Brax for this cruise and he had a lot of material we hadn't heard before which was a pleasant surprise! I will never not laugh at the cheesy jokes. I think cheesey jokes and disney are just meant to be together.

The evening was just beginning and sadly our time in MK was over. I was feeling the disney blues big time at this point and A thought it was hilarious.

We said a 'see ya real soon!' to the castle and left the park.😭

On our way back to the hotel we stopped and had a meal at Joe's crab shack. I was fancying crab and A wants shrimp everywhere.

A had also been fancying one of there speciality cocktails he saw on the menu at his last visit.

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I cant remember the name of this cocktail but it was tasty and it came with a plastic shark + 'blood'. A thoroughly enjoyed it and was feeling a bit tipsy afterwards.

We both ordered the same shrimp trio entre with two slight variations. A ordered a cup of clam chowder with his and i ordered some crab legs. The meal was delicious! We would 100% order again.

For dessert we shared s'mores on a warm skillet.
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There was nothing left on this skillet by the time we were finished

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Thank you Joe's until next time!

Now we were back at the hotel it was time to pack. this is usually our least fun moment near the end of the holiday as we now need to squeeze all our souvenirs into our cases 😩

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Success!!

Packing on such full stomachs was not a fun task and we didn't finish packing until about 2am. I knew we were going to feel that in the morning.
 

Tashifer90

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Saturday 18th May- Day 15

We woke up surprising early considering our late night the night before. However we wanted to make the most of our last hours in Florida.

The weather was gorgeous and it helped to brighten our moods. We cleared out of the hotel room and checked out by 10:30am.

We decided to take a trip to target to get some last minute snacks for the plane.
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A thought cheesecake would be a perfect plane snack... i disagreed!

Plane snacks bought we decided to head back to I drive and to Millers for lunch. After the success of our meal of appetizers last time we decided to go for it again. We ordered the potstickers, wings, and nachos to share.

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We didn't get anywhere close to finishing all the food but it was enjoyable to reminisce about our favourite parts of the holiday and watch people walking by.

We Made our way to the airport and dropped off our rental car. Checking in was a relatively pain free process. We couldn't have been more lucky with our luggage allowance. Our weight limit was 23kg, my suitcase was 22.1kg's and A's was 22.6kg! talk about cutting it close!
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Our plane arrived on time and we had a fairly uneventful flight home.

Here ends our May 2019 trip report! Overall we had a brilliant time. I think we would go back again in may although we did miss all the Halloween activities.

All is not quite so gloomy though! we have been lucky in that this trip report and wedding planning have made the last few months wizz by and we are now heading back to the world in less than a week! This next trip will be unlike any of the others with us having both our families present, best friends and a wedding!

Thank you all for following a long and we cant wait to share our next adventure with you all!
 

Tashifer90

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Rosen inn internation drive- a review

After a rocky start to our stay at the rosen inn at the end of our trip we were able to have a better overall opinion of the hotel. I would say for what we paid for our stay (approx $60-70 a night i would guess with the exchange rate what it was in may) the hotel was perfectly acceptable. We were so busy during our time in disney we really spent a small amount of time in our room.

The room was always clean and the housekeeping were always pleasant whenever we had need to chat with them. Despite room renovations being done nearby it really didn't make any difference to our stay.

The room itself was a good size for 2 people however i felt that any more people would have struggled with that space. The beds themselves were our only bug bear during the stay. They were so tiny!! We have a king size at home and felt like we were being suffocated when in these beds. They were certainly not a full size double bed in my opinion. This meant that on a couple of the nights when we were too warm A had to move across to the second bed in the room so we could get some undisturbed sleep. The room was nice and dark in the evening and the blackout curtains were brilliant in the early mornings to help us get some sleep.
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The only photo i managed to get of the room. unfortunately it was before our beds were made 🙈

In terms of hotel facilities we really cant comment. We simply just didn't use them enough to give a good opinion!

Our second stay by ourselves out of the 'bubble' has really taught us what we do and don't want out of our disney holidays. From now on unless we are having a budget holiday we would like to stay on property because we really missed being able to nip back to the hotel in the early afternoon for a swim and nap before continuing in the parks. I drive is just too far away and the route too busy to nip back and forth.

We hope our hotel musings are of some help if you're ever looking for a budget hotel for your holiday.
 

riverside

Well-Known Member
I really enjoyed your report!! I'm really looking forward to your next one!! Congratulations & I hope all goes well!! :)
 

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