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Old 12 Mar 19, 09:10 PM  
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Goldia
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It's all about the mouse - 16th and 17th August 2018 day 16 and 17 Last day and travel home day

Welcome to the It’s all about the mouse trip report. We are a family of four and this is our 4th trip to Orlando. I'm Abby, my DH is Dave and our children are Max (13) and Kate (11). This trip is all WDW and we stay inside the Disney bubble for the entirety of our holiday.

If you haven't read the previous day it can be found here

Today is the travel home day we didn’t visit a park as our tickets had run out, but the flight wasn’t due to leave until 9pm so we still had a pretty full day ahead. Technically most of the flight was on the Friday, but let’s face all of that is pretty boring so I’ve merged the days together.

Max woke up in the night and decided he should take the opportunity to get on his tablet, according to him he thought it was morning as his tablet was still showing UK time A likely story! It was just after 4am so Dave told him to put it away and go back to sleep I didn't wake up at all

In the actual morning I was the first to wake up just before 8am. We had a slow start and I made coffee for me and Dave.

We packed up all the bits we had bought and then spent the morning at the pool.

On the way over I couldn't stop myself from taking lots of photos of the resort, so gorgeous!





We must have munched on some of the snacks during the morning, but I have no idea what we ate as at this point my notes are failing me It's a horrible day travel home day We must have had a bar or two of Ghiradelli chocolate and the rest was packed into one of the carry on bags…bit of a mistake here as I completely forgot about the security at MCO and all food having to be taken out of carry on bags So, we were that family later in the day who looked like they had bought half of Main Street. Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself as there is still a little of the story to tell.

We needed to take the luggage over to be stored and clear out the room by 11am so we did that. Then, we caught the boat to go to Disney Springs for lunch.





I pointed out POFQ to the kids on the boat as we went past as this is where we will be staying this summer.







They were quite excited by the look of the pool slide.









Arriving in Disney Springs



We stopped off in Ghiradelli and they were giving out the caramel chocolate squares.



The kids had a good look around the World of Disney to find any last minute souvenirs they just had to have.

Max spotted a hidden Mickey in the pavement on the way to the restaurant. I hope this photo comes out and you can spot it.



We made our way over to House of Blues for lunch, Max kindly took photos of the entrance.







I loved this restaurant the theming, the decoration, I wished I'd taken my phone to the restroom to take photos as they were amazing.



House of Blues was very quiet, there were a handful of people eating in there and lots of spare tables, so no need to make a reservation.





We had just heard that Aretha Franklin had died, so I took a photo of her.





It was great in here! Hence all the photos.

Kate and Max both had cokes. I had a Woodberry Smash Cocktail, which is Bourbon, ginger, blackberries, lemon and maple syrup. Dave had the Beast of Bourbon, bourbon with chocolate bitters.



Kate ordered the pulled pork sandwich with a brioche bun, Carolina BBQ sauce, pickles and slaw with fries. Kate thought her burger was great, in fact she still talks about this burger as being the best she has ever had and she is really keen to have it again. She gave away some of her fries, there were absolutely loads.



I had the New Orleans Muffaletta, sesame bread with Mortadella, Salami, Ham, Provolone, relish and fries.



I only managed half of my sandwich as it was huge (the rest was boxed up and saved for later – we did eat it at the airport waiting for the plane).



Max had a grilled cheese with fries (it’s supposed to come with a fruit cup, but the server asked him if he wanted to swap and of course he did).



Dave had the Shrimp Po Boy.



Even though I couldn’t eat all my meal I still ordered pudding – the bourbon bread pudding, the server said this was her favourite pudding.



Kate ordered the chocolate chip cookie from the kids menu. This turned out to be multiple cookies which she shared with Dave.



Max ordered the skillet cookie.



The server very kindly said she would bring an extra spoon so the Dave could share mine and Max’s pudding which we were not happy about as neither of us were keen on the idea of sharing. Actually when it came to it the puddings were huge, really tasty, but of course way too much.



The bill came to $111.

We used the 20% off voucher from the Disney pack that comes with the luggage tags. So, it was $94 in the end.

Again, a really good value meal for OOP and I would love to go back to House of Blues.

By the way, I diligently carried with me photocopies of both mine and Dave’s passports and our driving licences and not once were we asked for ID when ordering alcohol I'm obviously not as youthful looking as I think.

We wiled away the afternoon at the main pool.









The kids joined in with the pool games.



We showered and reluctantly got ourselves ready to leave.

The magical express picked us up at just gone 5pm, it was as sad as you can imagine. Watching the videos on the bus back to the airport isn't quite as much fun as watching them on the way to the resort at the start of the trip.

Although I did learn something new from the little clips, which I'm sure lots of you already know, but I'll share it anyway. There was a video about the glass blower shop which I'm pretty sure they said was down the side alley bit of Main Street in MK. It was a pretty interesting little film about interviewing one of the guys who works there. I didn't even know it existed and I decided then that we would have to make more of an effort to pop in to some of those little stores to see what treasures they hold.

We arrived at the airport without too much fuss.





After dropping off our luggage we ate the rest of my leftover sandwich from lunch, the cake pops and some rice krispy Mickey heads before going through security. Kate really enjoyed the red velvet cake pop.

We spent some time in the shop and I bought a Mickey head cookie/sandwich cutter.



Kate bought a key ring.





Then as I said going through security was embarrassing as we had to take out all the food, oops! Kate said she thought it looked like it was enough snacks for 2 families (it would have to be 2 very hungry families).

At the gate we were told the flight was delayed by 1 hour. I went to the little kiosk shop near the gate and bought 2 glasses of white wine for $10 each for me and Dave to drink while we were waiting.



Kate had a strawberry yoghurt $2.99.



Max had a turkey and cheese sandwich $6.99.



With tax $30.87. Total rip off

Of all the food that we paid OOP for this was easily the worst! But, what can you expect when you’re at the gate at the airport. The wine wasn’t even that nice so I wish I hadn’t bothered. In fact, I think that next time I’d rather just go to one of the restaurants and have a proper meal.

The flight home was delayed an hour or so until 10pm as the incoming flight was a bit late landing so we had to wait at the gate while they cleaned the plane. I wasn’t too stressed about us missing the connection in Dublin for the flight to LGW as I was pretty sure we’d make up the flight time over the Atlantic as coming back always seems to be pretty speedy.

There was a lot of lightning as we took off, I had the window seat and it was pretty spectacular to see. Kate was sitting next to me and the boys were behind us. I really did like the 2-4-2 set up for seats on the plane.

On the plane the kids ate their crisps, Doritos for Kate and Lays for Max. I ordered the Cottage Pie, or it might have been Shepherds Pie as the main meal and it was pretty good actually.







Kate ended up feeling a bit sick on the flight, but I was asleep so Dave went to the toilet with her, but she was fine in the end.

We were given breakfast burritos on the plane when we were about an hour and half away from Dublin. The flights were with Aer Lingus, indirect back via Dublin the same as the outbound journey. Dublin airport felt pretty cold and wet. While waiting for the connection we ate a bar of chocolate or two.



The flight back from Dublin was all fine, no problems. We arrived home a little after 5pm and I put a load of washing on (fun times were well and truly over). We managed to stay awake until a reasonable bed time and the jet lag on the return wasn’t too bad.

It feels like a bit of a deflating way to end the report, but that's the way it went so I guess I don't have a choice.

To say we had a ball is an understatement. It was a fantastic holiday and it was marvelous being able to relive it all and share it with all of you.

I'm so very grateful to everyone who has liked one of the days

It has also been amazing to read all of your comments, so thank you to everyone who has posted a reply, the things that you have picked up and highlighted in your replies always made me smile

To my 'regulars' which does sound utterly bizarre I'm extremely flattered that anyone reads just one of the days, so to have people out there who keep coming back and are keen for the next day is somewhat unthinkable. My husband said to me a week or two ago, "I can't believe you're still writing about that holiday, surely there is nothing left to say" I think he'd had enough of talking about it by the time we got out the car after travelling home on Friday 17th August, so to be able to share it with all of you, who do seem interested is fab for me! Thank you so very much for reading it all. I'm truly flabbergasted that you've continued to read and read and read



So, that's the end...well I say the end, I'm going to drag it out as much as I can and I will do a highlights post, final thoughts and future plans, which I may have somewhat given away with the pre-trip and the POFQ references
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New pre trip report - Summer 2024

Link to all my completed trip reports
2017: NYC and Orlando. Salzburg. Boston.
2018: Orlando. Berlin.
2019: DLP. Orlando. Washington DC.
2020: DLP.
2021: Jamaica. Rome.
2022: Orlando.
2023: Orlando. Niagara and Toronto.
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Old 12 Mar 19, 09:57 PM  
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Melbatb
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I may not have commented but I have read and enjoyed your trippy!

Have fun with the next one
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2016 Quebec - Kuala Lumpar - New York City 2017 Dubai - Eurocamps France - Ontario and Quebec - So-Cal 2018 Montreal - Bangkok - New England 2019 Argentina - Quebec City - Hong Kong - 2020 Switzerland 2022 Arizona - Costa Med Cruise - Oslo 2023 Hong Kong - Gothenburg
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Old 12 Mar 19, 10:39 PM  
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Thanks for taking the time to write your report, I have really enjoyed reading along Looking forward to the next one & your DLP trip with Kate
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Old 12 Mar 19, 11:35 PM  
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Hel22
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Fab fab fab report, I'm so sad its has come to an end, I've really enjoyed reading along and got loads of ideas for our trip.Thx for posting. Looking forward to your next one
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Old 13 Mar 19, 03:20 PM  
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Jules32
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Thanks for taking the time to write , have loved reading along. I hope to have the same patience to complete mine when we go in August for the first time.
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Old 13 Mar 19, 07:44 PM  
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What a great relaxing last day. I know what you mean about the notes, mine are shocking and are gonna have to come from memory and photos I'm so sad it's over as I have loved reading every minute of it, it's also a great reason to procrastinate

Writing trip reports are so time consuming so thank you again for taking the time to write and show us your amazing trip. Your tips have also been invaluable.

One positive for coming to the end of a trip report ... you can start another one now! I'll be waiting for the new one xx
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Old 13 Mar 19, 07:54 PM  
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Goldia
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Originally Posted by Melbatb View Post
I may not have commented but I have read and enjoyed your trippy!

Have fun with the next one
Hi Mel

I'm glad you had fun reading about our Orlando trip. I know you love trip reports from all over the World, I'm glad I kept you entertained for a little while with our wdw trip.

Originally Posted by Cutiepie View Post
Thanks for taking the time to write your report, I have really enjoyed reading along Looking forward to the next one & your DLP trip with Kate
I'm glad you enjoyed it. I loved writing it too. You're giving away all my future plans although I suspect those beans are well and truly out of the can.

Originally Posted by Hel22 View Post
Fab fab fab report, I'm so sad its has come to an end, I've really enjoyed reading along and got loads of ideas for our trip.Thx for posting. Looking forward to your next one
I thought I'd be more sad that it was finished, but I think I'm also kind of relieved! I hope that doesn't sound too bad. I really enjoyed writing it and I've written up lots of trip reports, but this one was the longest by far. I'm so glad that people have enjoyed it and I'm really grateful to have received positive comments.
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New pre trip report - Summer 2024

Link to all my completed trip reports
2017: NYC and Orlando. Salzburg. Boston.
2018: Orlando. Berlin.
2019: DLP. Orlando. Washington DC.
2020: DLP.
2021: Jamaica. Rome.
2022: Orlando.
2023: Orlando. Niagara and Toronto.
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Old 13 Mar 19, 08:05 PM  
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Goldia
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Originally Posted by Jules32 View Post
Thanks for taking the time to write , have loved reading along. I hope to have the same patience to complete mine when we go in August for the first time.
I'm not sure it's patience, perhaps a dogged perseverance! It really is fun to write though and I do enjoy looking through all our photos and writing about what we got up to, it feels like such a bonus and a privilege to be able to share it with people who then seem to enjoy it too. I hope you give trip report writing a go as it can be really lovely re living your holiday.

Originally Posted by caitlinsmummy View Post
What a great relaxing last day. I know what you mean about the notes, mine are shocking and are gonna have to come from memory and photos I'm so sad it's over as I have loved reading every minute of it, it's also a great reason to procrastinate

Writing trip reports are so time consuming so thank you again for taking the time to write and show us your amazing trip. Your tips have also been invaluable.

One positive for coming to the end of a trip report ... you can start another one now! I'll be waiting for the new one xx
On that last day I didn't really want to make the voice memos about what we were up to and as you saw there weren't really many photos. You would think I'd have been less grumpy as I knew we'd be back, but it felt like such a long time away back then.

It feels good to get it written up, there have been days that I was desperate to share...4 parks, moving to the Princess room...and it was kind of handy as they were near the end of the trip so it kept me going. Plus of course, during the dark days between visits it's great to have something to do.

You know how long it takes not just writing, but the posting and putting in all the photos. Especially as I don't seem to be able to cut down or cull the photos as I want to include all of them. I sound like I'm moaning, and I'm really not. It was great fun writing and posting and it's so lovely when people say nice things! Ha ha stating the obvious there, but it's great isn't it?

Yes the next one I can't decide whether to give myself a break before starting, but then I'll probably be bored at the weekend so maybe I'll just type up a little before looking through the photos!
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Abby
New pre trip report - Summer 2024

Link to all my completed trip reports
2017: NYC and Orlando. Salzburg. Boston.
2018: Orlando. Berlin.
2019: DLP. Orlando. Washington DC.
2020: DLP.
2021: Jamaica. Rome.
2022: Orlando.
2023: Orlando. Niagara and Toronto.
Goldia is online now Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 13 Mar 19, 08:51 PM  
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caitlinsmummy
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Originally Posted by Goldia View Post
On that last day I didn't really want to make the voice memos about what we were up to and as you saw there weren't really many photos. You would think I'd have been less grumpy as I knew we'd be back, but it felt like such a long time away back then.

It feels good to get it written up, there have been days that I was desperate to share...4 parks, moving to the Princess room...and it was kind of handy as they were near the end of the trip so it kept me going. Plus of course, during the dark days between visits it's great to have something to do.

You know how long it takes not just writing, but the posting and putting in all the photos. Especially as I don't seem to be able to cut down or cull the photos as I want to include all of them. I sound like I'm moaning, and I'm really not. It was great fun writing and posting and it's so lovely when people say nice things! Ha ha stating the obvious there, but it's great isn't it?

Yes the next one I can't decide whether to give myself a break before starting, but then I'll probably be bored at the weekend so maybe I'll just type up a little before looking through the photos!
I think it's always hard at the end of any holiday to not feel the holidays blues. I don't think it's to do with not going back or going back, I think it's more to do with the fact that it seems to have ended so quickly and how you are going back to reality of work, school, chores etc if that makes sense?

I am still in awe of the 4 parks day and that Royal Room was beautiful, I'm so jealous. As we said before it's the keeping the memory's alive and remembering what actually happened. I'll tell you what else I love ... I love how you write about the disagreements or fall outs that you have as it makes me feel so normal about ours. I sometimes feel people only portray what they want people to see rather than what actually happens ... then I feel like I just moan and whinge and all we do is argue Hope that makes sense!

I'm the same with pictures, it's just too hard to cut them out ... unless I look awful then it's gone in a shot I know your not moaning haha. It really is and I dunno about you but the feeling you feel, knowing you've helped someone (I hope that makes sense too, I'm trying to finish my assignment and brains frazzled)

Yeah I was gonna say I bet you have it started by the weekend. If you post once every 2 weeks it will almost be time for your summer holiday report then see good planning! Xx
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Old 13 Mar 19, 08:56 PM  
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I've read all your days and really enjoyed your report.
We are there in August too, taking our 2 little ones for their first trip.
Heading over to check out your new pre trip! Xx
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