Disney with the Dufflers - Take 2 - Jul 2019 - Day 8 - Typhoon Lagoon, Dahlia Lounge and Blaze

[tracey1302]

Pre-Trip Report

Day 0 - Monday 1st July 2019 - Overnight at the Radisson Blu, Manchester Airport

Day 1 - Tuesday 2nd July 2019 - Travel day and arrival at Sapphire Falls

Day 2 - Wednesday 3rd July 2019 - Universal Studios and Hard Rock Cafe

Day 3 - Thursday 4th July 2019 - Islands of Adventure, Bahama Breeze and Bar 17 @ Aventura

Day 4 - Friday 5th July 2019 - Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure and our move to CSR

Day 5 - Saturday 6th July 2019 - Magic Kingdom and 'Ohana

Day 6 - Sunday 7th July 2019 - Pool day, Disney Springs and The Boathouse

Day 7 - Monday 8th July 2019 - Epcot and Tutto Italia

Day 8 - Tuesday 9th July 2019 - Typhoon Lagoon, Dahlia Lounge and Blaze

After a late night at Epcot, we were all reasonably late rising this day, as we'd just planned a chilled day at Typhoon Lagoon and a low key tea at Disney Springs.

This morning, I left Neil asleep and headed over to El Centro. I wanted to pay a little off our room balance and get some breakfast for us. However, in all the excitement of our late night, I'd completely forgotten that that very morning was the day that Gran Destino Tower was opening!

I went to reception and found that it was... no longer there - ha! I headed through the corridor, all smelling very new and shiny. It was also beautiful!

However, before actually heading through into the tower, I noticed that there were loads of cast members and I worried that I may have been going through a staging area. Bear in mind, that there were hundreds of press and guests outside

So I quickly exited the corridor and joined them and I actually watched the opening ceremony! It was brilliant!

You know, it's funny, when we booked CSR, I didn't really think that much about the fact that Gran Destino was opening while we were there. I knew it was opening, of course, but the substantial, and for me, positive, impact that this tower has had on CSR as a resort is really quite something.

I'm not sure how people have found it since but for me, this place is just absolutely stunning and has truly given a more deluxe feel to CSR.

In the second half of our holiday, we spent a lot of time in the Barcelona Lounge, on the lower level.

And the lobby area surely rivals those of deluxe resorts. It's just stunning.

More pictures later, I promise!

After breakfast, Neil and I set off to Typhoon Lagoon on our own, texting everyone on the Whatsapp group and agreeing to meet them all there. After all, we're a big group and everyone was getting up at different times.

I was very excited to head to Typhoon Lagoon for a couple of hours, especially armed with my waterproof phone case. The lack of pictures at Typhoon Lagoon had always been a problem for me, as we always had such a great time there and never seemed to capture any of those memories! Not today, friends!

We arrived relatively quickly - again a testament to how well located CSR really is...

And were soon there, with the amazing wave pool spread out in front of us.

The park was quite busy, but we managed to find a few sunbeds in the shade of a few palm trees near Typhoon Tilly's. We dumped our stuff and headed for the wave pool, wanting to wait till the rest of our crew arrived until tackling any slides.

Mum, Martin and OB were the next to arrive. We told them where our stuff was, and that we were in the pool. So they came right in to join us. It was terrific, and again, I'm so thrilled I've been able to capture it!

We did some fun wave jumping and riding for a bit. I will note, Mum stayed a bit further back than we did...

While these absolute hunks were super brave and threw themselves right into the action! Naturally!

We then headed for the lazy river for a bit, having a real chill out in the sunshine and water...

When the river headed down by the entrance, however, we spotted a few familiar faces: the Dufflers had arrived!

They called that they would wait for us to come back around again while they got all their suncream on and dumped their bags near ours. So we carried on the lazy river, although unfortunately, me, Mum and Martin all fell victim to OB and Neil's evil wrath and were held under the freezing cold waterfalls...

After this, we got off Castaway Creek, were reunited with the Dufflers and headed for one of our absolute favourites... the Crush N Gusher.

We all went up together, but on different slides. It was an absolute blast. Mum was really nervous, and so went on with Martin. It was so much fun watching her set off

We loved this ride, and went on again later and got more pictures! Me and Neil dodged a bullet here, as we didn't go on the slide with pictures so we saved the 'water in my face' faces that have graced the rest of our party (see later on in the day... )

After Crush N Gusher, we headed on Miss Adventure Falls, a new ride for Mum, Martin and OB, and the Dufflers.

We split into three rafts: Martin, Neil and Uncle Mark...

Me, Mum and Debsy...

And OB, Sam and Megan...

We loved this - it was so much fun to all be able to go on together!

After the Crush N Gusher, we all headed to Typhoon Tilly's for a bit of lunch. We also discussed trying to get in at Toledo for dinner (the new tapas place at the top of Gran Destino), but I explained that it was very unlikely we would be able to get in on opening night. Not to mention we were absolutely full to the brim on dining credits!

After lunch, the boys went on some of the body slides and we decided to go on Crush N Gusher again... with some hilarious photographic results!

As previously mentioned, Neil and I massively dodged a bullet here but these memories are so precious and really capture the fun of our time at Crush N Gusher this time around.

After this, Neil and I decided to head back into the wave pool. This is where we massively caught sun (bloody overcast weather!) so if we're looking a bit flush in our evening pictures, this is why! I am very ashamed! But it was bound to happen at some point - we are gingers!

After this, we decided to head back to CSR. We had a few hours chilling in the room and getting showers etc. It was nice to have this on our bed when we came back...

These little touches never go amiss, Disney. Thank you.

We met on the bridge at 5.45pm, as we had planned to have a drink at our new rooftop bar, the Dahlia Lounge (and to make, what I knew would be fruitless enquiries to eat at Toledo).

Entering Gran Destino on the lower level, I was just blown away by the stunning artwork and detail...

Navigating the new and exciting lifts, we headed to the top floor and to the Dahlia Lounge. This place blew us away. It is genuinely stunning inside and just has panoramic views that genuinely rival California Grill. Just... WOW.

Naturally, we had A LOT of pictures here. It felt really special to be there on opening night, and it made me really chuffed (once again) that we had all chosen to stay at CSR. What a place this is now.

Star Wars land...!

Girls

And boys...

Unsurprisingly, Toledo was fully booked for the rest of our stay, but it does look really beautiful inside. As I understand it, however, the initial reviews weren't amazing. I hope this improves by the time we inevitably return to CSR. The location and outlook is just second to none!

After our lovely drinks here, we headed out to Disney Springs for a low key quick service night. We had a few of these dotted in between our big meals, and they were really great (and necessary, obviously, to make our credit sums add up! )

We headed over to Disney Springs and the amazing Blaze. Where, if I'm not mistaken, I had exactly the same pizza I'd had when we'd come on honeymoon Chicken, spinach, mushrooms and peppers.

After dinner, everyone did their own thing around Disney Springs. Most did some shopping, but Neil and I just headed over to our favourite spot... Jock Lindsay's.

Pictures en route...

We managed to nap a table on the side boat and had a nice chill out together, soaking up the amazing atmosphere down there. It really is just fantastic at Disney Springs. It's just one of my favourite places in Disney now.

There was a lot of music and activity, and as we were leaving, we captured this...

More live music and dancing.

Unfortunately, we had a bit of a wait for our bus (like half an hour or so! ) which was a bit of a pain, and was really the only time we'd experienced an issue with the buses. I wondered if Gran Destino had anything to do with it... perhaps. But anyway, we got back 'home' eventually!



Day 9 - The Florida Open, Bon Voyage Breakfast and California Grill is here

[Hmr89]

Brilliant day Gran Destino looks amazing!