4 go on an adventure October 2017 - Day 1

[Bellesdream]

Wednesday 18th October 2017

INDEX

We woke up in Orlando! Exciting! I was awake first about 5.15am (10.15am UK time – not bad for jet lag) and couldn’t get back to sleep so I played on my phone and updated the usual Facebook and Instagram. Once the children and Stuart were awake (Stuart hardly slept so he was shattered) we made a coffee – having to work out the instructions, had showers, repacked the cases and decided what to do – we would eat at All Star Music resort, check out and ask for luggage transfer then grab an Uber to Universal.

We went to the food court and felt slightly overwhelmed, I was very thankful for watching so many you tube videos and researching online before going. It was really busy and there was so much choice! We decided to buy 3 kids Mickey waffles meals and 1 breakfast bowl ($31 – bit of a shock!)

We all really enjoyed this but then again, we hadn’t really eaten since we were on the plane to the US yesterday! The kid’s meals came with a drink and snack so we got 2 milks, a water and 3 rice crispy mickey heads. Once we had eaten we went back to our room, grabbed all of our stuff together and went to reception – checked out and gave our luggage to bell services to be taken to Old Key West. Next the fun began… we sat in the lobby of All star music and tried to order an Uber to Universal. It did not want to work at all, tempers started to get slightly frayed and it really began to put a dampener on the day as we had wanted it to either be a pool day or universal day – we could have organised it a lot better if we knew it was going to be a pool day or a wasted day. We gave in and decided universal was a no go for the day and decided to get the bus to Disney springs and have a look round before going to Old Key West. We got the bus to Disney Springs – how easy! Loving them so far! When we got off we went for a wander and decided to grab a coffee in Starbucks, as we hadn’t checked in to Old Key West yet we didn’t have the dining plan therefore we paid cash for a Venti Americano and shared it. We sat and had a chat and enjoyed looking out the windows and watching the squirrels, the air balloon and the people. It rained really badly whilst we were in Starbucks so we decided to wait for it to stop before we went out! We popped to the Marvel shop, Candy Cauldron etc and then we went to find the Lego shop, that was a hit! Both of the children love Lego so they were really happy! On our exploring mission we found the dock where we catch the boat to Old Key West to.

Then we popped to Uniqlo, Ammeretto’s and then into World of Disney! Strict instructions that we weren’t buying anything today as it was our first day and we would be going to the outlets later in the holiday so didn’t want to waste money… We loved World of Disney and saw LOTS that we liked and wanted to buy. We managed to lose Caitlin but we found her! She was really upset but it was a good way to get the whole ‘pay attention to where we are, don’t get lost’ plan of action into brains! We purchased 2 autograph books (planned purchase!) and then we went to the dock to catch the boat to Old Key West.

We really enjoyed the boat ride to Old Key West and it was honestly a magical way to get to Old Key West and the first time we saw the resort was fantastic, wow all round. We got off the bus and went to check in, a cast member outside reception gave the children stickers which cheered them right up! We checked in early and our room wasn’t ready for us – not surprising considering we were early – but we could get our magic bands which would mean we could get our dining plan and resort mugs. The Cast member who checked us in let the children pick a balloon each – they both picked a dog, Caitlin had a blue dog and James picked a red dog (these actually lasted really well until about 3 days before we went home) The cast member also gave us our 1st visit badges. We decided to go to the General Store to collect our resort mugs and grab some food for us to share.

We had a reservation booked for Planet Hollywood for late afternoon/early dinner (planning for us having jetlag/tiredness) so we didn’t want to get loads to eat. We ended up getting – A chicken Nuggets and chips meal and swapped our drink for a pretzel and plastic cheese. James doesn’t really like chicken nuggets or chips so the pretzel was mainly for him.

We sat and ate it all on one of the bench tables by the ‘goods to go’ QS place, there was no indoor seating but to be honest it didn’t matter. We also got our first drinks in the refill mugs – fantastic, so easy to use. It was so good, to finally be there and to like the look of it, after the room from last night I just wanted to see how our room for the rest of the holiday was, we relaxed whilst we ate and then went to explore. We walked down to the hammock area, fire pit and then back towards the pool, Stuart and I sat on the pool chairs and the children played in the playground – something so simple but of course they loved it! We really wanted to get into the pool but because we couldn’t get into the room or our suitcases so we couldn’t access our swimwear… if we had realised earlier this morning before we had passed our luggage over I would have kept a backpack and put in swimwear for us in there but hey ho lessons learnt and all that – it was nice just being able to relax and knowing that we were happy. When we got the email with the room details we zoomed straight off to collect our luggage, we could see and walk to our room from bell services which was fantastic. We were in room 6325. We walked in and…… WOW we loved it! I was so so relieved! The room was perfect, so much bigger than a standard room (deluxe Studio room) with a kitchenette, bathroom and balcony.

excuse the mess!
Because we had our evening meal already booked we got ourselves settled in to the room and zoomed down to the bus stop in front of the Hospitality house – we were going to get the boat to Disney Springs but as we were running late thought it would be best for the bus there and boat back. We were running late for our reservation (this will become a running theme for u!) Planet Hollywood were fine with us being late and they sent us straight upstairs and seated us straight away, it was quiet when we arrived and we were actually very grateful for an early dinner today. Once we were seated the server went through the dining options with us and let us know what we could and couldn’t have. There were so many options! It was excellent. We decided on –
Stuart – LA Lasagne and then Sticky Toffee Pudding with Coke to drink
I had – Soy and Ginger Glazed Salmon and then Key Lime Jar with Coke to drink
Caitlin – Bacon, Mac and Cheese Burger and then Banana Pudding Jar with Coke to drink
James – Kids Cheese pizza and milk but no pudding
This should have cost $125 but was obviously covered under the Disney Dining Plan. We left a 20% tip of $22, we were more than happy to leave a full 20%. During the meal we had each walked round and looked at all of the film memorabilia, Caitlin loved seeing the Hunger Games outfits and I saw Home Alone items and Cool Runnings items which was brilliant. I know that Planet Hollywood gets lots of bad press but our meal was really good. It was an excellent meal, we all really loved the food. We left and went for another walk round Disney Springs, we went into the Pandora shop – they had an offer on – spend $100 then get a free ring or earrings up to the value of $65, I really wanted a couple of Pandora Charms but I ended up not buying any at all whilst away.
We caught the boat home (oh how we LOVED doing this, such a beautiful journey) we all got changed and went down to the pool with our mugs and grabbed towels from the bin. Only the children went in to the pool – we were a little full (I wrote trip notes) We stayed for about an hour and a half, returning to the room about 9pm with cocoa in our mugs. The children zonked out so Stuart and I unpacked getting to bed about 10:30! We really made the most of our first day, although there were lots of changes we really enjoyed it!

[Goldia]

Your room at okw looks fab.

[MikeH23]

Great to hear such positive comments about OKW as we are staying there next year ! sounds like you enjoyed your stay

[pandanne]

Never stayed at OKW but its on my list now. Sounds like you had a good day after the slight hiccup first thing. Looking forward to reading more

[Jockey]

OKW is lovely

[Bellesdream]

Originally Posted by Goldia

Your room at okw looks fab.

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It was amazing! we loved the size of the studio and how close we were to hospitality house, brilliant all round for us :-)

[Bellesdream]

Originally Posted by MikeH23

Great to hear such positive comments about OKW as we are staying there next year ! sounds like you enjoyed your stay

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We really loved OKW, we had no problems with anything if i'm honest.
The QS doesn't have lots of options but you are so close to Disney Springs it makes it really easy to pop their for dinner or go via there on the way home, plus you get to ride the boat! We loved it :-) Pool was amazing - also never really packed out!
Have a wonderful holiday!

[Bellesdream]

Originally Posted by pandanne

Never stayed at OKW but its on my list now. Sounds like you had a good day after the slight hiccup first thing. Looking forward to reading more

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Definitely one to add to the list! We loved it. Yep the hiccup is a reoccurring theme unfortunately with us and Uber, I know lots of people have no issues with them but we really struggled :-(

[Bellesdream]

Originally Posted by Jockey

OKW is lovely

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Agree so so so much!

[katy341]

ooooo this is getting me excited for my hols and first time at okw! great day - relaxed! looking forward to reading more x