The Amazing Flying Solo Trip - Day 6 - Resort Tour

[Guest]

Check out and go home day!

I grabbed my last shower in the amazing shower - and headed to the foodcourt for breakfast. Had another of those amazing croissants, and a container of grapes. I sat outside by the pool and ate, it was lush! I popped into the resort gift shop after breakfast to grab a luggage tag for my new suitcase and an All Stars Resort pin - it really annoyed me that the three resorts didn't get their own pin, big all stars star with three danglies representing each of the three hotels, but I bought it anyway - needed it for my pin board! I went back to the room and finished my packing, there was nothing I could do to change the amount of luggage I had so I had a little reserve in my bank account for excess baggage! I dropped my cases with bell services as my transfer to the airport wasn't picking me up until 3.25pm, and it was currently 10am!

I caught the bus to Magic Kingdom (my five day park hopper was all used up so no parks for me today!) with the intention of doing a tour of the monorail resorts. First stop, the Contemporary! I was very excited to explore this hotel as it's the one we've chosen for our wedding trip in 2014. I showed myself around, having a look around outside as well as inside, the cabanas near the pool look amazing and are defiantly on our list now! I chatted to a cast member at the concierge desk for a little while, I was trying my luck to see if there was a room I could view - unfortunately it was a bad time and they were just doing change over so there was nothing, poo! The guy was really sweet tho, and after I told him our story he gave me a set of engagement pins and a set of happily ever after pins, yay!













After I'd taken every possible photo at the Contemporary I caught the monorail over to the Poly. It's a very pretty resort, but really not to our personal tastes. The pool area is fab tho!





Rather than catch the monorail to the Grand Floridian I decided to walk, so I could go past the wedding pavilion again. Every time I see it I fall deeper in love with this place!







The construction is a bit of a pain, but hopefully it will all be done by the time October 2014 rolls around. The GF pool area is in a bit of a shambles at the moment as well, so didn't take many pictures of outside. I do adore the lobby area of the GF! Took as many pictures as I could, it's so pretty! Went through the shops, and found Citricos, which is where we're hoping to have our reception meal after our wedding.











Didn't venture in too far as it looked like it was set up for a conference lunch or something, so kept wandering. The Princess tea party had just finished, and Sleeping Beauty was on her way back to her castle, but she took the time to stop and chat to a little girl, who was just beside herself with excitement. It was so beautiful to watch!





Continued...

[Guest]

I still had some time before I needed to go back to ASMu, so I caught the monorail back to MK, then switched to a Boardwalk bus. We'd pretty much already decided on the Boardwalk as our second location for our Engagement photography but wanted to see it in person. I was panicking a bit about not being able to find the actual boardwalk area after going to the hotel, but I found the famous staircase and after that it was easy!



I wandered around getting my bearings, and thought it was absolutely perfect. I also went up to Sea Breeze Point, a venue we had strongly considered for our wedding, but after seeing how close it was to public walkways I'm doubly glad on our decision for the Wedding Pavilion. I did see a wedding on at SBP which was beautiful, the bride was gorgeous!





I was getting a bit peckish so decided on a pulled pork sandwich for lunch, YUM!



I decided against the 'basket' with fries and a drink, as there was an ice cream parlour right behind me, and I do love ice cream! After I'd finished my sandwich I went in and had a lovely chat to the cast member. She asked me if I'd had a double scoop from there before, and I said no, but I had had double scoops from Riverside last year and I don't remember them being huge. I had ordered a waffle cone double scoop, and she said that they normally have to turn them upside down in a cup then add the cone afterwards, no issues there! But instead of building the icecream on the cone, she scooped it straight into the cup... two of the biggest scoops you've ever seen, then perched the cone on top! Then added sprinkles! Best $5 I'd ever spent



I'm ashamed to say I didn't make it through the whole thing, but I gave it a good shot. I sat outside the ice cream parlour, hoping to see the bride walking back toward the hotel now that she'd finished photos with her photographer. As she walked past I did call out congratulations, but she totally blanked me, and the photographer waved me off! Rude! Anyway!

It was time to start heading back to ASMu. I know you can walk from the boardwalk to Hollywood studios but I was starting to get tired and anxious about getting to the airport, so decided to catch the boat. It was lovely! I've not spent enough time on boats at WDW, need to start changing that! I switched to the AS bus and got back to the hotel in plenty of time. I collected my luggage, then went to fill up my mug for the last time - I didn't bother bringing it home with me as we are on DDP next year and will get a whole new set! The Magical Express showed up right on time, and we headed to the airport after a couple of stops at other resorts. I went straight to check in, I was dreading this! I'd checked in online already so my seat was confirmed already. I was called up to the desk and this lovely Virgin man looked after me. He asked to weigh my hand luggage to start with, it was 5kgs over! He asked me to move some of my stuff into my checked bag... I just shook my head and pulled a face at him saying there wasn't any room in there! He said I'd have to check in my hand luggage... I pulled another face and said how much is that going to cost me, and he just grinned at me, shook his head and said don't worry about it! My own little fairy godfather! I was in total shock!

I ran away from the desk so he couldn't change his mind, went straight to starbucks, ordered my coffee and connected to wifi so I could tell Paul - I had £100 worth of excess baggage budget to blow! I treated him to a few extra Donald bits which he was happy with, and a new purse for me I grabbed a bowl of fried rice, chicken and broccoli at Panda Express in the food court (was delicious by the way) and finished it in just enough time to go through security, straight on the train, and pretty much walk straight on to the plane! They had called upper class when I arrived, then premium economy, then my row - I was the first economy passanger on the plane that didn't need special assistance or have small children.

The flight home was pretty uneventful, nothing special happened, only slept for about 2 hours. I was off the plane pretty quickly, through immigration and collected my bags. Caught the Gatwick Express back to Victoria, then the tube home. A lovely man carried my large bag down the steps at Victoria, another fairy godfather, two in one day! After landing I was walking through my front door at 11.15am, not bad at all!

In summary I had a great trip - totally different to what I was expecting. We are such rollercoaster focused people usually, but given the opportunity I really did enjoy taking my time, not rushing around from fast pass to fast pass, and just drinking it all in. I adored being able to see our wedding venue in action, and while I missed my family terribly while I was away, it was great to have some me time!

Time to start the pre-trippie for Novemer 2013 - thanks for reading!

[plutofan1]

What a fab trip.
looking forward to reading your pre-trippie.

[vanlou]

wow - a jammed pack holiday with 2 weddings crammed in as well! Really enjoyed reading. Happy planning for next year (and the big one in 2014)

plus can't wait to read sarah and em's trip reports - they both looked like they had fabulous wedding/renewal days.

[christybell]

Absolutely fantastic report Tabz, thanks for sharing

It will be your turn before you know it

[pandanne]

Wow - a jammed pack holiday with 2 weddings crammed in as well! Really enjoyed reading. Happy planning for next year and for your own wonderful DW in 2014.

[making49]

Wow, just read all your full days and I'm exhausted Sounds like a brilliant week. Happy planning for your wedding planning trip and then the real thing, so exciting.

Marg.

[loves_disney]

great trip report tabz, must have been awesome exploring on your own, and getting a little magic before heading back next year!

[mouselover22]

Magical trip report...well done for flying solo Looking forward to reading your pre-wedding trip next year

[happy bunny]

A lovely full but relaxed home day, and yay to your fairy godfathers sprinkling the pixie dust