Unbelievable sights... Day 9...

[Princess Alison]

Day 9 – Sunday 17 May –..practically perfect in every way

Well staying up for the Wishes fireworks yesterday did the trick, as Jemima and Zak had their first lie-in today, till gone 8am – woo hoo! We had a bit of a slow morning as we wanted a restful day and hadn’t got plans for Disney parks. Jemima ate a big breakfast...her usual banana and weetabix (or weetabiccies as she calls them) followed by some strawberries and yogurt. The latter proved a particular hit although I think Jemima may have a career in beauty therapy ahead of her as much of the mixture ended up being rubbed into her face and hair.




So showers ensued and we got dressed and packed up ready to venture out into another beautiful sunny Floridian day.

I’d heard that Celebration hold a Sunday Farmer’s market, so we decided to head that way. If you’ve never been, you should know that Celebration is a fascinating and truly wonderful place to visit. The houses are like something from a film set – Desperate Housewives meets The Truman Show meets Pleasantville – and everything is so well-maintained (I’ve been told the residents have to meet particular presentation standards, for example in their lawn cutting and window decor). We couldn’t resist taking a few pictures of some of the houses – if anyone had stopped us we’d planned to use the ‘prospective buyers’ line...or just move the car on very quickly!






Following the signs for ‘Market Place’ we pretty much found the market! We parked the car just around the corner, got everyone out and into buggies, and then crossed the perfect grass verge toward the main street. This led us past an estate agent window...which we couldn’t resist looking in, and picturing ourselves in the ‘7 bedroom house complete with spa’... well I can dream can’t I?! We also passed some great looking restaurants, full of happy looking people eating delicious smelling food. What a perfect town! The market square was bustling, with stalls selling all sorts of upmarket goodies, ranging from handcrafted cardigans and original paintings, to a huge fruit and veg section and an orchid stall.




Just beyond was a little fountain where we stopped for a moment to take in the scene, which rather oddly included a high proportion of dog owners as it happens – well actually the word ‘dog’ is an injustice...these were pampered and groomed-to-perfection pooches. And the owners knew it too! Celebration dogs aren’t taken for walks...they are taken on parade! This is Disney after all.
We took a look in some of the shops along the market place, and then headed toward the lake, which is stunning. So stunning in fact that there are even wooden rocking chairs set out to sit and gaze at the view. Is this a film set?!






There’s a traditional cinema and ice-cream shop, and some really big fountains that you can walk in to keep cool. We took a wander onto one of the adjoining roads, and came across something I’d heard about, but hadn’t seen before – the Sherlock Holmes Cafe – opened by an English couple a few years back, and themed around the great detective himself. Unfortunately, for Sherlock at least, the cafe was no more, and had a sign in the window saying that a new Irish restaurant (I think) was due to open soon. So, we moved on and on our way back to the car, we noticed a fire engine parked up, so couldn’t miss the opportunity of capturing that on camera!




Back home again, we were so hot, that we all went straight into the swimming pool and had tremendous fun racing the children around the water! Zak looked particularly gorgeous in his all in one suit!




After a spot of lunch, we thought we’d go shopping. We drove all the way up International Drive, noticing Ming Court where DH and I had shared a very romantic meal on our first visit to Florida, and up to the Mall at Millennia.





Completely randomly, we bought a throw for our bed (for our new bed that we are going to buy... yes we are going to buy it!) and some cufflinks! I had been very excited about going to Victoria’s Secret...but was very disappointed as there was nothing I wanted to buy. I was consoled by DH’s kind offer to buy cookies, which were very welcome and very tasty!




After a good look round, and a few goes up and down the escalator with Jemima, we decided to head back home for tea! Bizarrely I noticed a couple of happy ducks were walking past the entrance to the mall as we left...?!

It actually took a bit longer than we hoped to get home because a) we got lost in the Conroy area (our map didn’t cover this bit in detail (note to self...buy Mapman’s map next time!) and b) the weather had made a startling shift while we’d been in the shops. The sky was really odd and the clouds were dark and almost green. The drive was pretty tough as it was absolutely bucketing it down, and we were grateful to reach the driveway of the villa in one piece! We sat in the car for about 10 minutes as there was tremendous thunder and lightning...and also some hailstones! DH was the first to brave the outside, and raced indoors to open everything...he reappeared with umbrellas and we quickly got the kids out and under cover.

The storm lasted a long time...hours in fact, and we watched from the window as the swimming pool area became wetter and wetter! After tea, and having dried off from the 5 minute soaking we got between car and house, the weather had eased, so we drove to Walmart to have a look at bags as our new train set (the one from Downtown... mmm...you did read my last report hey?! Course we did... mmmm) was going to be packed in our case, so we needed something extra for our clothes! Walmart was fun as usual...but the stormy weather had started up again by the time we came out, and believe me, you don’t want to be in a car park when there’s lightning!

So back home, as the children were getting to sleep, we switched on the ‘Weather on the 1’s’ to discover the rather grim prospect that rain was going to be on the agenda for at least the next few days.

Aha...so now I know why those ducks at Millennia were looking so jolly!

Check out Day 10

[cerigirl]

Lovely report - I love Celebration too - it is so perfect. There is a nice bookstore near the cinema, where you can get magazines too - the lady there is really fiendly.

[scotsprincess]

what a great day

lovely pics

[Guest]

Another great report with lovely photos.

[JoJoBell]

Originally Posted by cerigirl

Lovely report - I love Celebration too - it is so perfect. There is a nice bookstore near the cinema, where you can get magazines too - the lady there is really fiendly.

See more...

When we went at Easter the bookstore had closed. It had become a bit of a tradition for our DD to buy a book from there. She was so dissapointed.

We all love Celebration, especially on a Sunday morning.

One of the things we are looking forward to at Christmas is going there to see all of the decorations and the 'snow'.

[Princess Alison]

Originally Posted by JoJoBell

When we went at Easter the bookstore had closed. It had become a bit of a tradition for our DD to buy a book from there. She was so dissapointed.

We all love Celebration, especially on a Sunday morning.

One of the things we are looking forward to at Christmas is going there to see all of the decorations and the 'snow'.

See more...

Ooh I'd love to see it at Christmas...we've been there at Halloween and that was lovely, so Christmas must be amazing!

[voddygirl]

Great day at Celebration ... lovely pics again

[summersun]

fab pics and a great day, shame about the rain

[Guest]

Great report and photos.
Will definitely give Celebration a try when we go in AUgust.

[walt4it]

Good t osee you have the same feelings about Celebration- always look in estate agent window and dream too!
Enjoying your trip report - thanks for sharing