The Land, Sea and Wedding Trip - Day 7, Legoland, Grand Welcome and Raglan Road

[Lisa29]

The Land Sea and Wedding Trip Oct 2015 - Day 7, Legoland, Grand Welcome and Raglan Road

The previous day is HERE.

Saturday 17th October 2015

I actually had a lie in this morning and woke at 7.25am. Madison and Kaley woke about 10 minutes later so I got up then. I sorted their breakfast then jumped in the shower while the others watched the girls. Phil was awake and up by the time I got out of the shower.

The others all left just after 8am to go to IHOP before going shopping at Altamonte Mall.

We all got ready, got all of our stuff together and were in the car on the way to Legoland at 9.05am. It was quite a simple drive there and the girls were well behaved which is always good

Less than an hour later, we were almost there

And were driving in at 10am. I had already pre-paid for our parking so just had to hand our voucher over. We were given a small red piece of card to put in the window and told to go and park. We parked in Wyldside 1. I've just remembered when typing this that as we were getting out of the car, the car next to us pulled up in his space then the car that came in behind him just drove straight into the back of his car! Not sure how they managed it but I don't think any damage was done and there was no confrontation.

I need to point out here that it was absolutely boiling today! It was only 10am but the heat hit us as soon as we got out of the car and it was just so bright and so hot. Slight spoiler alert, but I think this massively influenced my thoughts on this park.

Anyway, we have just parked and got everything we need from the car and start walking over to the entrance, taking pictures on the way

The new Legoland Hotel that had not long opened

I had a look before we went to see what it would cost to stay here and if I remember correctly, it was more than a night at a Universal hotel!

We had a right faff now trying to get in. I had mentioned in my pre-trip that I was already annoyed that my 'ready to use' tickets from Orlando Attraction Tickets were A4 sheets of paper and not regular, small park tickets like I expected. Well, we walked up to the turnstiles to be told that we needed to go to Guest Services to get them signed and stamped before we could use them! GRR So, no, they're not ready to use tickets then! We had to join the Guest Services queue, where after a few minutes wait, they were signed and stamped and we were then able to be let in. I'm not at all sure why this was necessary but I won't be buying tickets from this company again.

Finally inside the park, the first thing you see is the Big Shop

We decided to bypass this for now and come in on the way out instead. We picked up some park maps and had a look to get our bearings

The clothes Madison is wearing were more online bargains from P.S Aeropostale - $2.09 each for the vest and shorts!

The carousel which we never ended up going on

We went into the new Heartlake area first, as that was the first land that we came to. They each had a photo in the car and then one together

This was the new ride in this area

Neither of the girls wanted to go on this so we had more photos

Outside the shop

And inside the shop

They had all the different Lego Friends sets and associated products in here. Unfortunately, all the sets in there were what we can get at home.

They stopped for a picture outside Sunny's Ice Cream Shop

And the pizza place, but I didn't get the name of this

One last photo before we decided to move on

We went to Mini Land next. This is where they have all the different displays, with things like the White House, Vegas, NASA, etc. I think Phil took photos of each one but I will just share some of them rather than all of them!

These all looked very impressive, it would be cool to see them being made.

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[Lisa29]

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We continued round and walked through where they have a load of the Star Wars characters set up. There's only a couple of photos, one of them being with Darth Maul (rubbish character!), but the others didn't come out great as it was so sunny and it was so bright for the girls

We carried on round and went on the little Safari Trek ride. This was ok, very short but Madison and Kaley both enjoyed it and that is all that matters.

As we were on the ride we had spotted some picnic tables in the shade so decided to have some lunch. We had the sandwiches and Writer's Stop goodies that I had used counter service and snack credits for the day before. Apologies for the rubbish sandwich photo

And the Writer's Stop items, a chocolate chip muffin, carrot cake cookie and Mickey shortbread

These were all delicious, though as usual, I couldn't manage all of the carrot cake cookie. Phil liked the muffin and Madison and Kaley loved their shortbreads. The sandwiches though good, weren't as good as I imagine they would have been if we had eaten them the day before when we bought them. We had also taken the crisps that we got with the counter service meals, some yoghurts and raisins for the girls to have.

Once we had finished eating, we tidied up and walked round to the City land. We saw this sign on the way

I'm not too sure why they have Stoke and Luton on this sign though.

Madison and Kaley wanted to go on the Boating School ride. Though the queue wasn't overly long, it is such a slow ride, we waited about 15-20 minutes for our turn. Kaley went with Phil and Madison went with me. This was fun, another little kids ride, not a lot to say about it really.

We carried on looking around, taking more photos along the way

This life size car was actually pretty cool.

We went to the Imagination area next

There didn't seem to be much there so we just had a restroom break and carried on round. We walked past the waterfront area where I think they have some form of show

The set up at this area reminded me exactly of the Waterfront Stadium that they don't use anymore at SeaWorld.

We went into the Extreme Brick Bargain Shop and bought Madison and Kaley a notebook each. These were half price so cost $9.96 plus tax .

We passed this lovely water feature on our way back towards the front of the park.

We stopped in the Heartlake area to each have an ice cream from Sunny's Ice Cream Shop, as it was still so, so hot. Phil had two scoops of cookies and crème, I had one scoop of cookie dough with caramel, Madison had one scoop of chocolate and Kaley had one scoop of strawberry. I have just checked my receipt and they only charged us for four lots of one scoop, these were $2.75 each plus tax making a total of $11.77. We actually had to pay for these! It made a change from being on the dining plan and not paying anything!

This was mine (a decent size for one scoop)

I think this was Phil's

And this is Madison's (I'm not sure why she looks so serious)

We took these round to the Duplo area and found a bench in the shade to sit and eat them.

They had Halloween 'decorations' out

We didn't look around this area after eating - it was ridiculously hot and what we could see looked quite babyish. We decided to head over to the Island in the Sky and didn't have to wait too long

Apparently, this goes 150 feet up and is next to Lake Eloise.

This was good and we all enjoyed it. It's just not the same as the one at SeaWorld where you can see the Disney landmarks in the distance.

We went to the Big Shop to have a look around. Kaley bought herself the Sleeping Beauty set ($12.99 plus tax), Madison bought herself 4 books ($4.99 plus tax each) and I bought a magnet ($2.99 plus tax), postcard (50c plus tax) and 2 books ($4.99/$5.99 each) for Madison for Christmas. We saw this and I really wish now that we had bought it

We were done now and decided to leave. I think the heat really affected me today and I wasn't overly taken with the park. I'm not sure what it was but I came away quite disappointed and really wished we had gone to SeaWorld instead. At least we have done it once now and don't need to go again.

It must have been between 1.30 and 2pm by now and we quickly got settled in the car with the air con on full blast and left. We drove a few miles down the road and decided to stop at the Winter Haven Walmart. I took one photo while we were in there, of the UK items available

I bought some of the things I buy every time, Oreos, Junior Mints and Mint M&Ms

Can you tell we like mint flavoured sweet treats?! I also got another US Weekly, Lucky Charms, a couple of EOS lip balms, some more Banana Boat sunscreen and some Nature Valley bars (something like $4 for a giant pack). We also bought some Shopkins and Palace Pet figures to put away for Kaley and Madison for Christmas.

We were on our way back to OKW around 2.40pm and it took us just over half an hour to get back.

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[Lisa29]

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Dan, Dave, Ryan and Bethany had not long got back from Altamonte Mall and Mum and Dad had acquired Sydney, Kori and Saxon, as well as already having Piper. We all caught up for a bit and the kids loved seeing each other and getting to play. As all the kids were there, we decided that now would be the best time to do the Grand Welcome. It had been bothering me as I didn't know when we would fit it in and this seemed too good an opportunity to miss.

Dan and Dave took the five girls to their room so that we could set it up for them. (I think we got the better end of the deal here - 5 girls, 1 room, lots of noise and excited girlies!)

The rest of us put all the name banners up and put their present boxes out

Not as many boxes as last time

It didn't take us long to get the boxes out or put the banners up and we were soon calling Dan's room to tell them they could come back.

They were all excited when they came in and saw everything and went straight to the gifts

Saxon was more than happy to eat his snack

They were soon at their own boxes and opening their gifts

You can see all the shopping bags in the back of this photo - I think this was all Ryan and Bethany's!

We had taken some things over with us that had been purchased in the sale at the Disney Store. Lots of the other bits, including flip flops, sunglasses, t-shirts and nighties, were all bought from the US Disney website in the sale and were some of the many parcels delivered to us.

More pictures of the banners up

Kori loved her new sunglasses.

The kids all really liked this again. They loved everything Mum had bought for them and wanted to take everything out with them. I'm quite certain that Madison knows it was me that did it all, it's getting harder to keep things from her.

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[Lisa29]

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Finished with all the gifts, we tidied up and started to get ready to go out to dinner. Michelle and Jamie came back with new clothes for Sydney, Kori and Saxon so we got them changed too. It was about 5pm when we were all ready and on our way out. We were going to Disney Springs and were walking to the Hospitality House area to get the boat.

Sydney and Kaley now also modelling their new sunglasses.

Some photos on the walk to the boat dock

As we got in view of the boat dock, we could see a boat waiting so Phil and Jamie ran ahead to see if it would wait. Helen, Kevin and Adam were already there waiting for us. We all hurried around and got on the boat. Dan and Dave had spent ages on the phone to the front desk, I don't recall why, and they came hurrying into view about a minute later and rushed over to get on the boat with us. The boat left at 5.20pm and we enjoyed the journey to Disney Springs.

I do like the ice cream colour buildings of OKW

Resort sign

The kids loved the boat journey

More boats

It wasn't long before we were seeing the beautiful Disney Springs

We pulled up at the new Landing area about 15 minutes after leaving OKW.

This boat definitely didn't stop at West Side like the SSR one did 2 years previously, I'm not sure if any of the other boats do. The Captain told us that the boats left from here every 20 minutes; on the hour, twenty past and twenty to, to go back to OKW. He made a point of saying that the last boat LEFT at 11pm and that if you turned up at 11pm, it was too late and you had missed the last boat.

We walked towards Raglan Road, taking more photos on the way

We had three ADR's at 6pm and must have checked in around 10-15 minutes early as we wanted to see if there was any way we could have a big table together, or at least be seated near each other. They couldn't do one big table for us but could do one table of 4, which Mum, Dad, Helen and Kevin had, then a table of 12 for the rest of us (Ryan, Bethany and Piper were eating at Chef Mickey's). They weren't near each other, but the table they gave us was an excellent table so we didn't mind

We had this big table, set back in in its own little alcove. As you walked in to the restaurant and followed the bar around, this table was right behind the end of the bar, in the room/area to the left that we were sat in in 2013. The only downside to this table was that you couldn't see the dancers……or so I thought, until I looked through Phil's photos for today!

Seems like he had an excellent view of them! In fairness, if we had all been able to see the dancers from this table, I think we'd have stayed for hours!

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[Lisa29]

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We were given menus straight away. The kids was their menu and an activity sheet so they got straight to work on these

Our menu

Our server was Sheldon and he came to take our drinks orders. Most of us had the usual soft drinks, though I do have a picture of one their lager flights so someone must have ordered this

The service was quite slow this evening and it was a while until our drinks came. It was a Saturday night and the restaurant was very busy but we didn't mind. We ordered our food when he brought the drinks over. After he had gone, Dan and I realised our drinks tasted and smelt a bit off (we each had Sprite). As soon as our server came back, we asked for another drink each and he quickly brought them over.

Saxon was very happy playing with the beer mats

And the girls were happily colouring their activity sheets/menus

Dan took some more selfies with the kids

Then took a picture of us all sat at the table

Finally at 7.10pm, over an hour after being seated, our food came out. Kaley had Gold'n Chicken - 2 deep fried chicken goujons with Irish chips ($8.00)

Madison had Silly Steak - 5oz steak with an onion ring garnish and Irish chips ($14)

I had Mammy's Roast Chicken - Lemon thyme roasted half chicken with mashed potatoes, creamy herb sauce and red wine jus ($22.00)

Phil had Burger "R" Way - Chargrilled sirloin beef burger with bacon, tomato chutney and Dubliner cheddar ($16.00)

These were all delicious. Mine was amazing, I really enjoyed it and ate just about everything. I did have a hard time choosing what to have as so much on the menu appealed to me but I'm so glad I went with this as it was so tasty.

Despite clearing our plates, there was no way we were leaving without having dessert.

Madison and Kaley each had the Strawberry Delight - Vanilla ice cream with pavlova, cream, fruit coulis and fresh Strawberries ($5.00 each)

I had Ger's Bread and Butter Pudding - Like no other you have ever tried. Believe us ($9.50)

This is MASSIVE and comes with little pots of caramel sauce and custard and is absolutely amazing! Seriously, it is so delicious.

Phil didn't want a dessert so we ordered the Dunbrody Kiss for Michelle as Phil's dessert on the dining plan so she didn't have to pay for it ($9.50).

Once finished, we asked for the bill and this was soon brought over to us. We each had a separate bill for our different parties which was good. Our bill was $94.02 plus $6.11 tax making a total of $100.13. We used 4 table service credits to pay. As we were a group of 12, the 18% gratuity was automatically added. Ours was $16.92 so we left $17.

Despite the very slow service we had, I still love this restaurant. It is one of the few places I would pay to eat at on Disney property. As well as the food being very similar to what we grew up eating, the menu has so many different options, which not many Disney restaurants offer any more.

It was just after 8pm when we left. We dawdled a bit on the way out to watch the dancers for a few minutes then walked back to the boat dock. We were able to get the 8.20pm boat back to OKW.

Disney Springs looking lovely lit up at night

As does the Hospitality House area

Phil got another photo of the lighthouse, very similar to the one he had taken a few hours earlier

We went to Goods To Go when we got off the boat to collect our refill mugs. We were able to get one of each colour, blue, purple, orange and green. These should have been $16.99 each, making a total after tax of $72.38 but they were included with the dining plan. We got a couple of drinks then walked back to our room.

We got the girls sorted and ready for bed and they were in bed just after 9pm. We got everything ready for the next day before sitting and reading US Weekly whilst NCIS was on the TV (it was always on the TV, no matter what time we looked!). We went to bed a little after 10.30pm.

The next day, day 8 - Animal Kingdom, Disney Springs and Yachtsman's Steakhouse is HERE



DINING PLAN ROUND UP - 32/48 Table Service used, 15/48 Counter Service used and 6/48 Snack Credits used

[Redrach1903]

Hey Lisa

Got to say I don't fancy lego land at all and your report has confirmed i wont be going! Good for lego mad kids I guess!

Love the kids gifts, the sunglasses are cute

Lovely photos on the boat and around Disney Springs! I am so looking forward to getting the boat from POR

HAHA! Chris also seemed to be drawn to that blonde dancer Boys eh?

Sounds like a fab meal despite the slowness. Pud looks great, I wish I had tried that bread pudding but I made the mistake of having a starter!

Thanks for sharing x

[EJSakaAnna]

That bread & butter pudding looks delicious! Great day despite being disappointed at Legoland, but it looks like the girls enjoyed it anyway .

[Milner]

Great read, hoping to try Raglan Road next year.

[sheluk]

Good to try new things & then you won't wonder if you should have! Sounds like a lovely day though and evening, the girls outfits are so pretty

[Cinderella]

What a busy day !