if it ain't broke, don't fix it - Day 14 / home

[bearandbuzz]

Day 13 is here.

We woke to our final morning at BC. A few last minute packing changes occurred, then we made our way to Disney Springs to check in our luggage. We were going straight to HS this morning and didn't fancy having the luggage in the car park, so this suited us fine. Although we had taken the magical express from the airport, at the beginning of the holiday, we had no desire to take it back to the airport at the end. We tried this last time and I nearly had kittens! I didn't like the feeling that we had no control over the time we arrived, each time the bus stopped at another resort I felt another piece of control slipping away. For us, the best option is to hire the car until the very last day and drop it off at the airport. That way we have no one else to blame but ourselves if anything goes wrong!

There was no line at DS check in and we were soon on our way 0 for the very first time this holiday we'd actually had to park in the car park of HS - a novelty!

We walked through the gates at 9.45 and strolled up Hollywood Boulevard, stopping for a few photos

Happy but sad

Before moving to Starring Rolls to spend a few of our last credits on some breakfast (of sorts). It was here that I tried a butterfinger cupcake (drool).

A not so healthy breakfast for 4!

We each had a drink with this, using 3 QS credits plus one snack (for the drink).

Once we'd finished Steve took the boys on Star tours while mum, dad & I went to meet Olaf.

In typical style, Ethan was chosen to be the rebel spy. This is the second time it has happened when I wasn't there, the last time it happened in 2014 when Steve took Ethan on because Alistair was having a 'moment'. Suitably impressed by his spy skills we then made our way to use an 11.30 FP for Indianna Jones, stopping briefly to pick up a funnel cake or two as mum had been craving one since the beginning of the holiday. Unfortunately we were all pretty stuffed from breakfast so most of us didn't have much - but luckily the boys took up the challenge and finished them off!

We then went back on to star tours to use our Fastpass. Ive lost count how many times we went on this over the course of the holiday, but the boys love it and we love it so why not!

After a few refreshing ice creams (finishing up the last of our credits) we rode on toy story, using our final FP of the holiday. We trundled out of the park and made our way back to the car, ready to go to the airport.

Im pleased we'd decided to go back into a park on our last day. Last tie we made the mistake of hanging around the resort and it was a wasted opportunity. I really feel we made the most of it and although we were sad to be going, it just kept the magic alive for a little bit longer.

When we got to the airport we were treated to extremely long lines at security, even having to file past a security sniffer dog for the first time. Luckily we'd factored in plenty of time (we'd arrived at the airport 4 hours before our flight) so although we did get a little impatient, we didn't have any stress.

Once through to the departure lounge we continued with our tradition of eating a meal at the outback. This is something we have done since 2011 and I predict we will do it for a good while longer. As a general rule, we don't eat on the plane - preferring instead to try and get into English time ASAP. This means that we tend to have a full meal before getting on so we can (hopefully) fall into a food induced coma once we are on our way!

Boarding was uneventful and we took off on time (7.50pm). True to form, I pulled on my mask and plugged in my ear plugs pretty much as soon as we took off. I didn't sleep all the way hoe, but dosed an awful lot, driving in and out of a full sleep. I do remember removing my eye mask in the middle of the flight as I was aware that Ethan was awake beside me. Both boys had been fully briefed as to what they should do, but Ethan (in his wisdom) had decided he would prefer to watch movies and play games all the way home. I told him that I would have no sympathy for him if he complained later on that he was tired if he wasn't even going to try to sleep. I popped my eye mask back on and left him to it. Good Luck with that Ethan!

I awoke to breakfast, and we landed slightly before our scheduled time. Ethan hadn't slept at all, . I think Alistair, Steve, mum & dad had slept for various amounts of time.

We worked our way through customs etc and waited for the taxi outside. Unfortunately the taxi ended up taking nearly an hour to arrive as it had been stuck in traffic. This just confirmed to Steve and I that we much prefer using our own car, like we did last time. Admittedly its not me who has to drive home, but Steve - however Steve is all for the idea, he hates hanging around, even more than I do so I think this is the way of the future.

We arrived home, I unpacked and put on a couple of loads of washing. Id kept up to date on the washing while we were away as there is nothing worse then having to do piles and piles of washing with jet lag.

We went over to see our friend, who had Cooper - we'd missed him very much! Looks like he'd had a tough time while we'd been away!

My friend offered the perfect cure for jet lag - a glass of wine, and we chatted for a while before going home. Ethan was about as delightful as you'd expect, having had no sleep, but I kept him going until about 7pm, when I finally let him go to bed. Alistair went at the same time, while Steve & I kept going until 9. None of us really suffered any jet lag over the following few days, which made going back to work and school a lot easier.

There ends our holiday. Here are some thoughts -

Beach Club - I really liked this resort, the rooms seemed larger and more airy than those we'd stayed in AKL & WL. I like the fact that also had a sofa that converted into a day bed. We had planned on using it as a bed if the boys didn't get along sharing, but we didn't need to do this. The room location couldn't have been more perfect. We'd paid for a garden view, but the balcony and the location towards the fireworks was a great bonus. If you were interested the room number was 2532, just incase you were going to put a request in for the room!

CM's - The cm's were all lovely, bending over backwards to try and help and sprinkling a little magic here and there. Yes there were a couple of member of staff who didn't quite live up to expectations, but be honest you'd get there anywhere. I know there have been posts recently from people wondering if the magic had been lost. I can honestly say this is not the case!

Towel animals - none to be seen this time Im afraid it's a shame, but mum & dad didn't recevie one either so don;t get your hopes up and if you do get one - be very grateful!

Weather - it was hot once more, but again it was manageable by being sensible. You will notice that we didn't spend all day in any of the parks (Discovery Cove excluded), we took time out to sit in the aircon and have cool drinks. We split our days into two - usually wth a pool break in between so we didn't ever struggle. The rain was no problem. There were a few more storms coming across by the end of the holiday and of course we were stuck on the tarmac at the beginning, but it really doesn't affect you too much. Pack some cheap and cheerful ponchos, take them with you every day and you can't go wrong. Sometimes ta downpour can work in your favour - for example when it rained when we went to AK it cleared the park so we could walk on the likes of Everest, Kilimanjaro Safaris and Kali River rapids.

Crowds - We made use of the Fp's, booking 60 days in advance. However these weren't set on stone and we ditched a few and changed them around as and when we wanted. Obviously the big attractions were busy most of the time and the Fp's were needed, ut generally I found I could grab FP's on the day for the likes of Toy Story, Buzz and many others.

Stormalong bay - we'd chosen BC due to the boys loving swimming and stormalong bay looked awesome (which it was), however we struggled at times to find anywhere to sit, Being that mum doesn't swim and prefers to dip her toes in every now and then, she really needed somewhere in the shade and unless we got there early, we just couldn't find any. It was an extremely busy pool, which was felt very open as people walked past on the boardwalk. I thought the boys would want to spend all their time there, but noticed more & more that they wanted to go to the quiet pool, which suited us as well as we could usually find a shady spot no matter what time of day it was.

Location - I had high hope that because of the location of BC that we would be wandering in and out of Epcot and really making the most of seeing more of the world showcase. This didn't really work out this way Im afraid. This is purely due to the heat. Had we stayed here during a cooler period Im pretty certain I'd feel differently, but as it was we found it a struggle to walk through International gateway and into the park. It was do-able first thing in the morning and later on in the evenings, but not at any other time, you just felt drained. The same goes for walking around the boardwalk. I loved the early morning strolls to the bakery and also the night time walks back from HS, nut it was just out of the question any other time. As Iv'e said before, we've previously stayed at AKL, WL and now BC. If I was pushed into it I would say the WL was still my favourite, I think this is due to the proximity to MK and also the feeling of seclusion works well for us.


Final thoughts - Of course we will go back at some point, this was never going to be a 'once in a life time' trip! Next time, however, we have decided to branch out a little more - the boys have reached an age where they are getting more confident with rides so IOA and Universal will feature more. Next time we will probably not be staying onsite, maybe have a villa and stay a couple of days in one of the Universal Hotels. I don't think we could ever really ditch Disney, we still love it there, but we also want to experience more.

No definite plans have been made - it's only 2 months since we returned, but already the old cogs are turning and we are saving our little socks off. Watch this space...


Thanks for all your wonderful comments and for reading

[lexie32]

Loved reading your trippie, we stayed in room 2530 in May and our holiday was very similar, dipping in and out of the parks and spending time by the pools, we used the quiet pool more than we thought we would too as it was just so convenient for our room!
Good luck saving 😉

[Kcstyle]

Have loved reading your reports! Two years until we go but your reports are making me so excited!

Wonder if I will be reading about your next trip before we go?!?!

Kris

[murdi]

Thanks for sharing.

[Loopylooloo]

Loved reading all your posts, great photo of your son and doggy!
You did well considering you went in such hot month, I also really enjoyed how happy your mum and dad look in all your photos, I think it was lovely that you all went together. Thanks for sharing!

[GALE88]

Thanks for taking the time to write this, I've really enjoyed reading it. 😀

[pandanne]

Loved reading all your posts. Thank you for taking the time to write a report.

[nails]

Brilliant report, enjoyed reading it all.

[disney332]

Totally agree with your stormalong bay comments.

Great pool but too many people, no places to sit unless there early and almost no shade.

We used quiet pool in 2014.

WL for us next

Disney332

[christoby]

Really enjoyed reading about your trip. Thank you. I'm off at the beginning of December. Hoping for some decent weather.