The Unexpected Festive Family Trip – 1.1.19 - Day 8: “Just Keep Swimming”

[Rescuer]

The Unexpected Festive Family Trip – 1.1.19 - Day 8: “Just Keep Swimming”

1.1.19

Day 7 is here

Index

(So I am on holiday this week so I'm determined to try and do as much of this trip report as I can, it is all typed up, just waiting to be uploaded with the photos)

A very slow start this morning, mornings were becoming harder and harder by this point. The weather was glorious again, a high of 28. We were so lucky with the weather the whole time we were there. We had a few flexible plans for this morning but decided on pool time for the 3 of us and chilling out with a book by the pool for mil.

They were checking magic bands of everyone entering and handing out paper wristbands.

Breakfast by the pool it was. We filled the mugs and collected baked goods from the Yacht Club quick service.

2 Banana and chocolate bread to share. These were very nice.
A cinnamon bun and a blueberry scone. All fresh and delicious, $17.

Ds adores the pool here, the last time we were here he was 7 so the lazy river was a little too deep but this time he was keen to spend a bit of time in here. Dh can’t swim and is adamant that he does not want to learn so he hung around in the shallow part while ds and I floated around in the tubes.

We also played pool volleyball. Another thing ds loves about this pool and the one at AOA is that you can join in with a massive game of volleyball. Although, Raoul, the cm who was trying to entertain kept interrupting their game with suggestions of tasks that nobody was interested in.

I also spent a little time in the hot tub.

After all that splashing around in the pool we were hungry again but had a relatively early dinner booked at MK so we got some food from Hurricane Hannah’s to share. We had the bacon cheeseburger, standard quick service food, nice enough but nothing to write home about. We also had the grilled chicken sandwich – served on a pretzel roll with spicy mustard. This was nice but not particularly easy to eat divided in to 4 and dh thought it was too mustardy (I’d take this with a pinch of salt from the man who makes sandwiches with cheese and ham and nothing else ever!) The waffle fries were best bit of this whole meal. $26

Showered and ready we headed to the bus stop but we ended up waiting quite a while for the bus to MK, this combined with spending too long in the pool meant we were running late. We were supposed to be there right at the start of our FP window for 7D and then straight to dinner at Skippers, this was not looking likely so luckily, we were able to modify our adr on the app and it offered me one 45 minutes later – perfect.

Once we were on our way it did not take long at all to get to MK and get in, we did need to do a fairly brisk walk to 7D. Another go on this for mil, front row this time. The wait was posted at 135 minutes but we were on in 10.

We waited over 30 minutes at Skippers for our table, I asked at the desk about 25 minutes in how much longer we would be as I was going to attempt to rearrange a FP, the CM told me not to worry and to just let my server know we had or were likely to miss a fp and they could add an anytime one which indeed they did.

Ds and DH are great fans of Club Cool and were happy to see the Melon Frosty is still on the menu here so they had that. Mil and I had diet coke and sprite.

We had already decided just to order main courses. Dh had the steak, he had loved it here before and he was glad he had ordered it again. Don’t know why my picture is so blurry.

Mil and I had the chicken, I think by this point Mil had had enough of adventurous food and was not a lover of the sauce that was on the rice, dh offered her his steak but she did not want to swap. I assured her that this was not the sauce she hated before and persuaded her to try the chicken. She agreed and said she liked the chicken but was convinced the rice sauce was different, I didn’t think so but you never know. Anyway, I loved the chicken.

Ds spotted the spiced lamb chops on the menu and was really keen to have this. He loved it, not quite as much as the ones at BOG.

Our server was really dry and full of really bad jokes, it was hilarious how many of them went completely over ds's head, the lovely server gave him a couple of less complicated ones just for him. I really like Skippers and would totally recommend it.

Dinner was $136 so a fair bit less than the night before.

We were in 2 minds afterwards if we should do a ride or just check in for the dessert party, the park was very busy by now. We decided just to head for check in and use our extra fastpass later.

When we first booked the holiday, MK was just supposed to be open until 8pm this evening but shortly before it was increased to 11pm so we knew that it was going to be way busier than they had originally anticipated. We were also really keen for Mil to see Happily Ever After as it is just so amazing and because of holiday wishes and fantasy in the sky this would be our only opportunity. So, I did the sensible thing and booked the dessert party.

I knew I didn’t want the Tomorrowland Terrace one for HEA due to the view but I went back and forth for ages trying to decide on the Plaza Gardens before or after. We eventually decided on the after one as we thought it would be less rushed.

We checked in after 7, there were people in the same line waiting to check in for the terrace one, which I thought was a bit of a shame as this, purely paper process of check in would have been eating into their eating time. We were told we could enter the gardens now or later but we just headed in and sat at the back and just chilled.

The view was great, we stayed at the back against the railings so Mil could stand. The, what initially looked like a calm walkway behind us became chaos when HEA started though and the poor CM’s were over run with people trying to stand up on the wall and flower beds.

They kept saying the walkway was for emergencies only and it took them a good few minutes of shouting through megaphones to get everything under control. So near the back might not be the best for an undisturbed view.

Afterwards we managed to dart across the flow of people to check in again, more highlighting on paper, for the dessert part. You were seated as you arrived and we luckily had a table overlooking the front which was fab for watching the craziness outside.

We were given non-alcoholic apple cider on arrival and there was water, fruit juices, pog juice, strawberry lemonade, tea, coffe, hot chocolate and coffee for drinks.

Savoury food consisted of cheeseburger spring rolls, interesting and cheese and crackers.

Desserts were ok, Ds loved the little pineapple whip things, dh loved the little strawberry tarts, I loved the ooey gooey cake with ice-cream and Mil really liked the macarons. So, everybody found something to their liking and we all tried a few things.

Overall, I loved the view, it was nice to do at such a busy time. $69 per person plus tax. Would I do it again, yes but only at really really busy times of the year. My main thought for booking was for Mil, we had rocked up about 20 minutes before the 11.50pm fantasy in the sky 2 days before and still had a view we were happy with.

We still had a fp for Buzz Lightyear and the extra anytime fastpass so we headed around to Tommorowland and rode Buzz twice in a row.

After that we called it a night and headed for the bus, via some more photopass shots of course.

We were back at the Beach Club before 11 and took some pictures of the decorations before heading up to bed.

We had a very early start the next morning so were keen not to be up too late after the last few nights.

12500 steps today, not bad considering my fitbit wasn’t put on till 4pm.

[Palm trees]

Sounds like another fantastic day, I'm still considering a dessert party so it's helpful to read reviews.

[Rescuer]

Originally Posted by Palm trees

Sounds like another fantastic day, I'm still considering a dessert party so it's helpful to read reviews.

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Thanks. I think the dessert parties are good at busy times of year.

You must be there over Easter time? I’d consider it for that time I think. The after one worked well for us and I liked the plaza gardens view. I don’t think I’d do the Tomorrowland terrace one while happily ever after is on.

[clochette]

Another great day.I have booked the After Dessert Party for DD and me when we go in July as we haven't seen HEA before and being vertically challenged we find it difficult to get a good view. When we were there in 2015, you could get a FP for Wishes, which was great but that didn't make money,

Having said that, I am really looking forward to relaxing with my food whilst the seething masses disperse. I have a very sweet tooth, so hoping to get my money's worth

[dixonsontour]

Pool looks lovely and the dessert party looks delicious.

[mick]

Another good day and great view of the castle

Joan

[Rescuer]

Originally Posted by clochette

Another great day.I have booked the After Dessert Party for DD and me when we go in July as we haven't seen HEA before and being vertically challenged we find it difficult to get a good view. When we were there in 2015, you could get a FP for Wishes, which was great but that didn't make money,

Having said that, I am really looking forward to relaxing with my food whilst the seething masses disperse. I have a very sweet tooth, so hoping to get my money's worth

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That sounds like a great plan for HEA. I like Wishes but HEA is eye wateringly good and the view is way more important. If you have a very sweet tooth you will love it, remember to get some ooey gooey cake with icecream.
We might see you there as we are back at WDW in July.

Originally Posted by dixonsontour

Pool looks lovely and the dessert party looks delicious.

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Stormalong Bay is certainly one of the best pools at Disney, I totally understand why ds loves it so much.

Originally Posted by mick

Another good day and great view of the castle

Joan

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Thanks, the dessert party was certainly worth it for the view.

[collybird]

I’ve just realised that if you do the After Dessert Party you could probably catch Once Upon a Time from the Terrace. We’ve never seen it because I get fed up waiting around after you’ve already waited for HEA.

It's fantastic seeing how much you are achieving despite it being a really busy time. I'm debating Thanksgiving for next year, I'd never advice anyone to go on a first visit at a busy time, but when you've already done everything so many times then you can go with the flow a bit more.

[Rescuer]

Originally Posted by collybird

I’ve just realised that if you do the After Dessert Party you could probably catch Once Upon a Time from the Terrace. We’ve never seen it because I get fed up waiting around after you’ve already waited for HEA.

It's fantastic seeing how much you are achieving despite it being a really busy time. I'm debating Thanksgiving for next year, I'd never advice anyone to go on a first visit at a busy time, but when you've already done everything so many times then you can go with the flow a bit more.

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We've seen it once I think, it was actually pretty nice. The view of it from the terrace on the after fireworks side wasn't brilliant.

I agree the busy times of year would be enough to put off a first time visitor. We were totally unstressed about what we did, although I had lots of aims for MIL but she goes at a slower pace that we would normally, because we knew we'd be back in July.

Thanksgiving might be nice as you would get to see all the Christmas stuff, Are you thinking about 2 weeks? surely the whole time won't be crazy.

[Goldia]

It's great that the weather was good enough for you to hit the pool a couple of times, a restful morning was probably needed after your later night last night. The pool looked positively empty there are hardly any people in it.

A lovely evening at MK with the dessert party.