See you in a week dear, I'm off to Disney! Solo trip Sept 2017 - day 7

[DisneyBlonde]

My final solo day!

As I'd woken up at 0015 to call DH I struggled to get back to sleep. I finally got up around 0600.

Check out was 1100 and my massage was booked for 1130. I had a quick shower, packed up my stuff including some food and was ready to go at 1015.

Last look out of my balcony window.

I'd popped down to the General store the night before and picked up 3 gallons of water, some butter, bread and some cheese. Hurricane Irma was definitely going to come towards us and the reports on the news were that a lot of places had run out of food and water with people food piling. It wasn't much but better than nothing and I had another 3 gallon containers I'd kept from my garden grocer delivery.

The news was saying that Irma would get to us on Sunday so there was no problem with DH's flight. He'd messaged me from the airport to say he had checked in, gone through security, was in the lounge with his bacon butty and then was boarding. I tracked the flight with Flightradar24 and could see they'd taken off half an hour late and now due in at 1525. Judging by my timing last week I thought he would get to me around 1700-1715.

Tracking DH

I called bell hop and they came to get my bags. I told them which one needed to go into cold storage andnrhey gave me my ticket for 7 items. I hadn't had my receipt come under the door so hopped to Reception and it had been settled. Shame really, I thought they may have had me staying in the room for longer!

It was busy with people trying to either check out early or extend their stay due to the hurricane. I was getting a bit worried as it looked like it could be bad, we were here last year for hurricane Matthew which came to very little in the end but this one looked worse. The models had it tracking up central Florida at one point but new had it going further West which was good for us.

The projection on Wednesday had it going over to the East and now it was over to the West but at least not Central anymore.

I went over to the Swan and Dolphin with a last shot of the Boardwalk

checked in at the Mandara Spa and was soon in the relaxation area waiting for my massage. I was excited to see DH, worried about Irma and started to relax. By the time Ashley came to get me I was half asleep.

The massage was fantastic, just as good as the first one and I was dribbling by the time it ended. I went into the changing room to put my swimsuit on and went back in the relaxation area to wait for my hydrotherapy session.

There was no-one booked in after me and the lovely assistant said she would leave me in for a bit longer than the 25mins. Yep, fine by me!

The tub was lovely, very warm and lots of nice smelling oils in. It had jets and I alternated between having them on and getting another massage from them and switching them off to float like a flotation tank. I knew I'd been in a while as I started to turn into a prune...

There was a knock at the door to tell me my session was over and I made my way back to the changing room. I checked my Fitbit and it was 1420, I'd been in there for nearly 1.5hrs! I had to pick the car up at 1500 so it was a very quick shower and hair wash in the lovely showers, I settled the bill and went to the lobby to order a taxi.

I was picking the car up from the Hilton at Bonnet Creek which was about 2.5 miles away. The taxi driver was lovely and chatted about the hurricane coming in. He told me the best place to get supplies was from the smaller supermarkets as everyone was heading to Walmart and had stripped the shelves. Good tip.

We got to the Hilton around 1505 and there was a couple infront trying to decide whether to return the car early before the hurricane or keep it. They were worried about being liable for any damage. I was hoping we could get the car in the garage at the villa.

They guy at the Hertz desk was lovely. Everything was ready for me, although I did try and persuade him to give me a Charger or a Challenger instead. No luck unfortunately! I had a RAV4 instead. After a few checks of things like windscreen wiper controls, hazard lights etc I was off back to the Boardwalk which only took about 10mins.

I pulled up at Security and explained I had checked out but still a guest and it was no problem. I parked the car, walked to the Bakery to refill my mug and sat in the cool Lobby to wait for DH. It was around 1530 so I reckoned I had just over 1.5hrs before he got to the Boardwalk.

I mooched around on the phone for a bit and watched a wedding. We got married at the Boardwalk so it bought back a lot of memories. I went back down to the Bakery to get another drink and sat outside by the front door so I could see DH when the taxi pulled up in about 20 mins.

Waiting for my man!

I waited. And waited. At 1715 I messaged my friends to say he hadn't arrived as they had asked and it was probably traffic from Sanford. 1730 and still no sign of him. I was starting to get concerned and jokingly messaged that perhaps immigration didn't like the look of him. I had been sitting there that long that bell hop came out to ask if I was ok! Bless him, he offered to keep an eye open for DH if I wanted to go and get a drink or needed the restroom.

Several black Escalades pulled up (the transfer car they use) but no DH. I called my mom to let her know I was still waiting as it was getting close to her bedtime and another Escalade pulled up. A woman got out and it wasn't the guy who picked me up so I sat down again. Then I saw a bald head and sunglasses sitting in the back. It was my Baldy!

I squealed at mom that he was here, ran to give him a big squeeze and bent my sunglasses I hugged him that hard! YAY BALDY!

We got his case out of the car, said goodbye to Debbie who had driven him and sat on the bench to sort out the paperwork for my bags. Turned out immigration hadn't liked the look of him. They gave him a hard time as he was travelling on his own and not working. He had been a full time student for the last 4 years and passed his exams just before we came out. He will be looking for work when we get back but certainly not in the USA. He explained this to immigration who weren't happy and they wanted to know everything including where he lived, whether he had kids, how much money he had etc.

He got his money out and started counting it dollar by dollar infront of them. He got his park tickets out to show them, his annual Disney pass, proof of holiday accommodation etc and eventually they let him through. He was so stressed bless him and felt like a criminal. I know they have a job to do but their attitude had been really bad. They can see he has been in and out of the USA as a tourist for the last 12 years but hey, they let him in.

I gave my bag ticket to valet, went to get the car and they loaded everything in confirming there was 7 items. 15 mins later we were 'home' at the villa.

As I was putting the food away from the bags I realised they'd not got the bag from cold storage. I didn't check when they were loading the car so the milk, salad, cheese, chocolate etc was missing. I couldn't be bothered to go and get it so it's probably still there!

Debbie had told DH the same thing about getting supplies from smaller supermarkets so we went to Publix at Formosa which is just up the road. They were fully stocked of everything including water so no problems there.

We got some stuff, put it in the car and walked to the Outback for a steak. After that we went back to the villa, sorted some clothes and things out and sat chatting.

It was lovely to have a solo week but so good to have my man with me!

On a side note hurricane Irma was becoming worrying. We considered getting a hotel room for the Sunday night when it was meant to hit but decided we were probably as safe in the villa as anywhere. The current projections had it heading out further West rather than coming over central Florida and weaker than first projected.

Oh how wrong they were...

[collybird]

Aw, lovely to read how happy you were to be reunited!

[DISNEYLIZ]

Glad your DH was let in. Your spa sounds lovely. Might have to try it

[mick]

Glad your hubby has arrived

Shame he had a hard time at immigration
But he's here now.

Joan

[Pussycat Doll]

Glad he made it ok, shame they gave him such a hard time at immigration.

[darbs]

Glad to hear that your hubby got there ok! Which villa community are you staying on?

[DisneyBlonde]

I know they have a job to do but the attitude is unnecessary. The customs guy was asking everyone if they were visiting friends or family, when people said no just a vacation his response was 'the question was are you visiting friends or family which is just a yes or no answer' and snarled the question again. Really? No need.

We are staying on Rolling Hills in Kissimmee, right by Windsor Hills. It a lovely community.

[HelenJNT]

Loved reading this. It was so nice how many people you got chatting to whilst you were there. Was very happy to read about your reunion at the end, ahhh.

Your cats are so beautiful. I have a Siamese/silver tabby cross and he's just amazing.

Hope you have a lovely rest of your holiday. Four whole weeks! I'm green!

[Cazzius]

What a lovely trip report.

So nice you were reunited with the hubby and were happy to see each other.

Shame about the food left at the Boardwalk, but good that you were able to replace with new supplies from Publix without too much bother.

Thanks for sharing your trip with us, I hope the following 3 weeks went well too