Disney and the Doubletree - Aug 2014 - Day 8

[Nimbus]

Previously: Day 7 - Magic Kingdom

Day Eight - Saturday 23rd August 2014 - Hollywood Studios and Leaving Disney

Saturday was the final day at the Caribbean Beach Resort and our final day at Disney. For this year anyway. I'd planned months ago to visit Hollywood Studios today because originally it had Extra Morning Magic Hours. But sometime between then and now Disney had changed its mind and instead the opening time was at the regular 9am. Still, we stuck to the plan and visited DHS; Hannah wanted to get a Olaf toy anyway and that was the only park we'd seen them in.

So, in the morning after finishing off our packing, we called Bell Services and got them to take and look after our bags until later in the afternoon. After giving the guy a small tip, of course. Then we scrambled onto the bus.



We arrived a little while before the opening time and as you can see the crowds were already massing outside the entrance. We had to queue for a fair amount of time in the sun, which even in the morning was already hot.





Inside, Disney had already set up the stage and decorations for that evening's special Villains Unleashed event. We hadn't got tickets for this - and anyway by this evening we'd have left Disney - but by all accounts this event was disappointing and far too over-subscribed. Anyway, before anything else we had to get some breakfast. It was surprising how few places in the park were serving breakfast though. We did eventually find a place, Fairfax Fare, along Sunset Blvd which sold bacon rolls.

Then it was time to ride Toy Story Midway Mania again:



We had fastpasses booked for this so the wait wasn't long. Outside Hannah met a green toy soldier:



After this we visited some of our favourite rides, like Star Tours (again, we had a fastpass for this but we also rode it again because the standby queue was short), Muppets 3D, and the Great Movie Ride. This was the first time ever that we saw the alternative version of the Great Movie Ride where the cowboy hops on the vehicle instead of the gangster. Strangely, I had just mentioned it to Michelle before we got on the ride.

Of course, we had to go back into the Art of Animation building and try our hand at drawing another character. This time it was Grumpy, not our favourite character - especially considering the other option was Stitch (Hannah loves Stitch) and we were outvoted.

We also met the Incredibles in here.



In the shops, we bought a couple of Olafs - one for Hannah, one for her cousin - plus some other gifts. We also used the last of our snack credits to buy a truck load of candy. And, of course, I tried out some headgear:



Eventually though, it was time to say goodbye to Hollywood Studios.





As you might be able to see, it was pretty busy at DHS.

We got back onto the Disney bus back to CBR for the final time and hopped off near custom House to check out. There we picked up our suitcases from bell services (again, another tip was given) and they called us a taxi ("You're a taxi!" Haha).

Within moments, a yellow Mears taxi cab arrived and whisked us away from CBR and towards the DoubleTree Resort near Seaworld. The journey to the Doubletree was a bit hot because the aircon in the taxi was a bit naff. The taxi fare was around $26 or $27 (I think) and therefore we paid $30 including the tip.

Checking in to the Doubletree went ok - unlike the guy at the CBR, they didn't mistake us for Sharon and Tracy - and soon we trundled our cases to our room.





The ground floor "garden view" room was quite far from the main building and near the family pool and gate out towards Seaworld. Inside, it was very similar to the room we'd just left at CBR - only a mirror image. Same layout and it even had a sliding partition between the bedroom and bathroom areas. Unfortunately it didn't have a fridge though.

Once we'd unpacked (not sure about the whole unpacking twice on holiday malarky), we had a stroll around the resort.





It all looked very nice although perhaps not quite so well-kept as CBR - and certainly not as big.

By now it was about 6:30pm. We had considered walking to Seaworld but it was due to close at 7pm so we'd only get there just as it was closing. Instead, we looked around the road near to the Doubletree to find out what was there and where we could eat. Surprisingly, there wasn't a lot around this area. There was a Subway (which we did consider), an Italian, another New York Italian restaurant and the Village Inn just opposite the hotel. The area looked very run down.



In the end, we settled on the Village Inn - and were really glad we did. It's very much like Denny's and has the same type of food, such as all-day breakfasts, burgers and skillets. And we love Denny's. Plus the people here seemed very friendly. I have no idea now what we ate here - I think I had a skillet and the others had breakfasts - as unfortunately I didn't keep a record of what we ate this week.

Anyway, once we'd eaten and paid the bill, we strode back across the crosswalk to the Doubletree and to our room to watch a bit of American TV before bed. Enough of Disney - now it was Seaworld and Universal's turn to entertain us!

Next: Day 9 - Seaworld

[Pussycat Doll]

Great day! Pussycat

[beck_loz]

Great day x

[Nimbus]

Thanks!

[rebeccarobbins]

A great read. Looking forward to more. We stayed at the Doubletree way back in 2005 when it was called Sheraton World Resort - brought back some memories looking at your pictures!

[Guest]

Good read and OMG are those Oswald ears?! Never seen them before!

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by Charamore

Good read and OMG are those Oswald ears?! Never seen them before!

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Yes, they are Oswald ears.

I had a bit of an Oswald thing going on this holiday.

[collybird]

Your room at the Doubletree is lovely, I really like the dark wood. I think the refurbished rooms at CBR are very nice and like the wicker furniture but the Doubletree is perhaps even nicer.

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by collybird

Your room at the Doubletree is lovely, I really like the dark wood. I think the refurbished rooms at CBR are very nice and like the wicker furniture but the Doubletree is perhaps even nicer.

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Michelle also thought the Doubletree room was a little more modern and stylish. To me, they looked pretty similar.

Thanks for commenting.

[juliab]

Your new room looks nice