Trip report: First timers July 2016 week three (offsite) our last week

[liz-paul]

So week three then!

Day 16:

Relatively early start today as we went on an airboat ride! Took about 45 mins to drive over there. We used Spirit of the Swamp and we had captain Dale and the tour was really good. We saw loads of birds and alligators including tiny little young ones which were surprisingly cute! The tour was 90 mins long and it was just us four on the boat which was lovely as we could stop to look at things if we wanted, ask questions etc. It was a great mix of getting up close to nature, relaxing and going fast! The captain was very knowledgeable and friendly. We all really enjoyed this activity although it's a bit aggressively obvious that you need to tip! TBH they probably have so many signs because they get so many tourists and I wouldn't think to tip otherwise. Can't remember what we gave him, a twenty maybe.

After this we headed to Epcot for a mission space and Soarin’ FP. Soarin’ was excellent again and mission space was a bit boring again, nobody else wanted to do the orange route and I never got around to doing it on my own. We looked around the world showcase and had a bit of a row about where to eat (Can't exactly remember what this was about but I thin kit went along the lines of we wanted to eat interesting food food from around the world and the boys wanted to eat burgers!) which ended in Paul probably having too much and me and the kids wandering around hot and fed up until we all got something in tangerine cafe. This was very nice and I got kofte meat, salad, olives, lentils and hummus which were all lovely. Paul had a chicken wrap/kebab and the boys got chicken nuggets! We had a bit of a wander around the world showcase (Morocco, Japan, America, China, Germany and Italy) but didn’t do much apart from look at shops and watch reflections of China which was really good. Very interesting movie about different parts of China shown on a 360 screen. I think a rained a quite a bit from when we started eating until a fair bit later... At some point Paul and the boys had some very expensive ice cream from Italy ($27 for 3 ice creams)! I can't remember why I didn't have one... On our way out of Epcot we rode spaceship earth again and by the time we got back to the villa it was almost 8pm so quick dinner, family pool time (great fun and relaxing) and then bed.

[liz-paul]

Day 17:

Magic Kingdom today! This was our last visit :-( we pulled through the gates at 9am but it was about 9:40 before we were actually in to the park. I definitely felt that the Disney transport during our onsite week was very good and made life pretty easy. We all rode buzz light year with a fairly short queue and then Matthew and I did space mountain and Paul and Christopher did monsters inc laugh floor which they enjoyed. The queue for space mountain took about 45 mins which I'm pretty sure was the longest queue we had the whole time. Matthew enjoyed and I thought it was okay. Very jerky though and it hurt my back a bit. We met up and all did monsters inc which was very funny! I got picked on up on the big screen screen during the wait at the beginning because I was on my phone (in my defense I was checking out FP+ etc). We took a ride on the people mover and then had lunch at cosmic rays which was fine (more burgers). Next up was our 7 dwarves mine train FP which I had managed to get fairly last minute. It was really good again but it is a really short and I probably wouldn't join the massise standby queues that we saw.

After this we rode the railroad train over to frontier land for a splash mountain FP. We all really enjoyed this and got a hilarious photo from it, which is funny because of our expressions and the family behind us! I really liked being able to see the ride and photopass pics on my phone soon after they were taken. The boys and Paul went back over to Tom Sawyer island for a play and I rode the Liberty steam boat and watched the parade. The parade was very good but I got horribly hot while watching! I cannot imagine what it feels like to be in the parade wearing one of those big furry costumes

We met up again and had a FP for BTMR which we all loved again. We slowly headed for the exit getting ice cream sundaes on Main Street on our way.

[liz-paul]

Day 18:

Today I was finally going to have some proper shopping time! I was dropped off at the Vineland premium outlets before opening for some shopping time by myself and Paul took the two boys to animal kingdom to finish their wilderness explorer books. They had a good time and I got quite a bit of shopping done. Our plan for picking me up was flawed though, we agreed to meet at the same spot they dropped me off at at 12 and then at 15 min intervals thereafter so that I wasn't standing around for ages. However, it was packed (liked bumper to bumper) by then and we kept missing each other as they drove by at non 15 min intervals depending on the traffic! Eventually I just stood there there until I saw them! I got quite a bit of shopping done that day and did a mini report. This is an attempt at a link: https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho...d.php?t=971232

By the time they picked me up and we got back to the house it was about 2pm and Paul made a snack and headed off for an afternoon at the Kennedy space centre while the boys and I relaxed around the house and had a look at the arcade games in the clubhouse which were a bit rubbish and used the communal pool for a few hours. The pool was pretty nice but had a fair few boisterous people in. One of my biggest disappointments of the holiday was the villa. I’m not exactly sure what was disappointing, although the work involved in staying in a house vs a hotel was part of it, like washing up, tidying, cooking etc. Another thing was paying a premium for all the extra stuff like the cinema and pool but hardly having time for any of it. There were a few minor niggles as well that were annoying. I definitely preferred the hotel while Paul preferred being in the villa because there was more space.

We then went back and relaxed around the villa all evening which was nice. Paul did a bio luminescence kayak tour which he really enjoyed despite only seeing a little of the bio luminescence. We were all supposed to go on it but during our manatee tour the guide said that the bio luminescence might not be visible so the boys and I decided to cancel the trip for ourselves (we got a refund exc the deposit). I think this was wise as we benefited from the R&R we had instead and the kayaking trip would have involved a very late night. Paul also got to revisit KSC for an afternoon and met an astronaut!

[liz-paul]

Day 19:

Typhoon lagoon again today. We all really enjoyed the water parks, although we didn’t get much of a rest at them! The wave pool here really is something else and we all loved it. One of my favourite things was to hear the sound that is made when a wave is released following immediately by screaming and the sight of many small children running for their lives! I'm not as mean as that sounds I promise!

There is a good range of slides that are fun (although Matthew and I did humunga cowabunga and didn’t enjoy it much! He hurt his elbow and I ended up with my swimsuit somewhere that I shouldn't!) and the lazy river is long and relaxing although busy. We packed a lunch again which is easy to do at the water parks as you can leave it on your sun loungers. We didn't rent lockers on any days a the water parks. This worked fine for us but you would need to assess the risk for yourselves. We didn't take any valuables in with us apart from the car keys.

After this we returned home for showers and headed back to Epcot for the last time. We had a FP for frozen ever after which was a cool ride but not worth the 90 min standby queue in our opinion. It is really well themed though. We rode the three caballeros in Mexico with no queue. This ride was not very obvious and we only found it because I went looking for it. It is not well signposted from outside. It was a pleasant and fun ride though. Paul and Chris rode again while Matthew and I looked around the Mexico pavilion. By now it was time to head over to beaches and cream. GF choices were limited here but I got a veggie burger which was good. Afterwards Matthew and I had sundaes with butter pecan ice cream, hot fudge sauce and cream which were lovely!

After this we had a quick look though France, the UK and Canada stopping to watch a bizarre but very good musical/acrobatics display in Canada. We then went to a character meet FP which wasn’t great but we got another family photo. Then we queued for the boys to meet Baymax which they enjoyed. After this we had a choice of going to our turtle talk FP or getting a good spot for the fireworks. I wanted to do both, Chris wanted to go to turtle talk and Matthew wanted to get ready for the fireworks. So Chris and I dashed off to turtle talk and we just made it to the last show. It was very good but probably not worth all the special effort we went to! After this we had 8 mins to run back over to the world showcase for the fireworks. Paul and Matthew had staked out a spot in Canada and we made to within about 20 feet of them and slotted ourselves in by the fence. We had a slight restriction to our view from a tree but all in all a great view and I enjoyed them much more than I had previously. It really helps when you can see all the stuff on the water. I did get a piece of burning ash in my eye which was sore for the rest of the night but fine the next day. After the fireworks we joined the throngs of people leaving and headed home to bed.

Rubbish photo of water display!

[liz-paul]

Day 20:

A much needed and deserved slow start this morning. We got most of our packing done today. Good job we took two extra cases with us! On our way out we had three checked bags and a small hand luggage each. On the way home we had 4 checked bags and Paul took a wheelie carry on case as well as his small bag. Once we were ready we went back to sweet tomatoes for a late lunch, which was lovely again, and then on to Hollywood studios! Matthew and I had a FP for rock n roller coaster (Matthews first ever loop the loop! He rejected them until this point but said he would give this a go) but once we got there I had a message to say it was temporarily closed so we had a mooch around the shops and Paul and Chris went off to do their FP for toy story mania with a plan to meet at beauty and the beast. Matthew and I nearly missed this as he was in the toilet again! One point to add here: I have two kids and am an early years professional but I still didn't predict how many inconvenient toilet breaks would be needed! * One tip I would pass on to first timers is please be prepared to change your plans and let things go. I managed this but I'll be honest it was hard at times and there are things I wanted to do and didn't get a chance for. But don't let it get you down * This show was actually a bit disappointing, not least because it wasn’t in a cool, air conditioned theatre as I’d expected! I don't know why I expected this but I was properly gutted and probably moaning again! I felt the show was weak though.

After this Matthew and I went to do our tower of terror FP and also our R&R coaster as it was back open. TOT was pretty good but the anticipation of not knowing what it would be like was bad. R&R was really good and possibly our fave ride! Shame we only got to do it the once! After these we met Paul and Chris in the Christmas shop and finally got decorations. Although not the one I had seen previously in animal kingdom. Goes to show that sometimes you should buy something as soon as you see it instead of waiting sensibly to look around (which I rediscovered in the last week when I decided to finally buy myself the Big Bang Theory Lego set to find it's out of stock and out of production!)! Choosing the decorrations took FOREVER! But they looked great on our tree a few weeks ago And was followed by another toilet break.

We did star tours on a FP and it was a totally different film from the last times (was told by the man in the Xmas shop that it had been stuck on a bit of a loop the last couple of months but was now showing more variety). Once we were out Matthew realised he had left his hat behind so Paul went back to retrieve it while I took pics of the boys on a speeder. The queue said 15 mins when we came out so we went straight back on and walked straight on and were disappointed to find it was EXACTLY the same film as we had just seen. Still good though.

By now it was time to check in for our Star Wars dessert party. We all enjoyed this but none of us could eat or drink as much as we hoped! There wasn’t much I could eat from the regular buffet ( frozen nuttella which was awesome, ice cream and cheese) but I was given my own little bag of goodies most of which I took home with me. It contained four mini cakes in pots, a bag of biscuits, 2 chocolate bars, a fruit plate. I also had a few cocktails and nabbed a couple of ice cold diet cokes for during the fireworks. During the party Storm Troopers wandered through a few times and Chris went off to trade with Jawas. Wish we'd been more prepared for this and brought stuff from home especially, as he loves trading things. They only give you tat back which is why we wouldn't let him trade much!

We were then taken to watch the fireworks which were amazing. AMAZING! So good and all the projections were great too. The dessert party was expensive and there is no way to consume enough food/drink to get value for money in that regard (lots of people were carrying their food and drinks as we walked to the fireworks so you could do that if you wanted). However, the value for money for me came from the experience and the space to stand and watch the fireworks from a perfect spot without having to wait for ages in the stifling heat first. And I hope this doesn't sound snobby but there were various CMs around to keep other people from ducking into the roped off areas.

A couple of pics to try and show the viewing area:

A definite indulgence but we all loved it. This was an absolute highlight for the whole family After the fireworks were over the CMs handed out the Chewbacca mugs which are very cool but not very practical and haven’t received much use. They were also handing out cold bottles of water which were very much appreciated! I think we then headed for home!

[liz-paul]

Day 21:

I’m not at all sure what we did this day as I didn’t make a note at the time. However, I think we did crazy golf this day (The Fantasia one) as I don’t have it down for any other day. WOW was it hot! OMG we felt like we were literally melting! It was super fun but did I mention the heat? Even the family of Americans behind us were wilting! Can’t remember who won! I think that this is probably also the day went to the Florida Mall. Which is massive! I'm not quite sure why we ended up doing golf and shopping on our last full day instead of a park. I think it's just 'cos we were pretty tired. And we were determined to get one game of crazy golf in and we all still had some spending money to spend! We spent at least two hours in Build a Bear! So long in fact that I gave in and built a bear myself! I know, I know, fully grown woman with teddies Matthew bought a drone. I had a look in a few places but didn’t buy much as I wasn’t sure if I was buying just for the sake of it. Got a couple of clutch bags and things in Charming Charlies which was a lovely shop. Lost an earring in Macy's and must have looked a proper twit on my hands and knees looking for it! Had to buy some more as it was for a top hole and I didn't bring spares. I had a Five guys at the food court and the fellas had subway according to my spending diary. We were all really tired out with everything by this point in the holiday. Not sure what we did after the Mall. I think we just went back to the villa and tried to eat the rest of our food and probably used the pool again.

This sounds like a bit of a depressing day but we did enjoy it. We were definitely feeling ready to go home at this stage. The boys and to a lesser extent Paul generally have a threshold as to how long they want to be away for. I took the boys to England for 4 weeks once and it was definitely too long for them. It's easy to forget sometimes the difference between adults and kids. The mall was definitely a good spot for shopping with lots of variety, suited us as a family better than the outlets but I liked the bargains at the outlets. I seem to remember it took a while to drive to though.

[liz-paul]

Day 22:

Our departure day. Not sure how accurate this is because I wrote it months later! I guess we finished up packing and sorting the villa and then I know headed off to Disney Springs. We'd been struggling to decide what to do on our last day as we had a few hours spare. We reckoned that going to a park or doing mini golf would get us too hot and sweaty and make the flight even more uncomfortable and if we went to w waterpark we would have been bringing wet swimsuits home. We settled on Disney Springs because everyone wanted to go back to Disney Quest which had the added advantage of being air conditioned! We went straight in to Disney Quest when it opened (I may have gone off to do some shopping, I’m not sure!). We ate lunch in Disney Quest which was probably the standard chicken nuggets/burgers etc. I think we trekked around looking for a mail box to send our postcards home and we definitely visited the Lego shop but I'm pretty sure no one built anything, just played with the lego.

Headed to the airport and everything went as smoothly as it does. Hung around in departures (was like being back in the UK already with all the British accents lol) and flew home. Flight home was hard work: Paul and Matthew got a small amount of sleep and Chris & I got none! Can't remember what films I watched but I think Triple 9 was one of them. Arrived early morning and went home to sleep! The Je tlag was incredibly hard to get over especially for Chris and me. We let ourselves sleep too late on our first full night home and probably spent 10 days getting back to normal!

So that's the end of our trip! We were both sad to leave but also glad to get home again. It was definitely an amazing holiday and I'll do a conclusions/summing up thread later on or tomorrow. I will also try to link all the threads together if I can work out how. I hope someone enjoys this although there is a lack of photos! Feel free to say or ask questions

[liz-paul]

Day 23: Sorry, not sure why I thought there was a day 23!

[liz-paul]

Introduction:
https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho... php?t=1002232

Week one:
https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho... php?t=1002234

Week two:
https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho... php?t=1002412

Conclusions:
https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho... php?t=1002598

[collybird]

We really enjoyed the Star Wars Dessert Party! I loved that it was inside and had AC and the desserts were so well themed.

Your picture looks like you had a fab view of Illuminations! Especially as you showed up just before the show. We did the dessert party last year and I would say our view was actually worse!